ARGENTINA’S Senate approved a labour law overhaul crucial to President Javier Milei’s shock therapy programme yesterday, after hours of debate unfolded alongside mass protests outside Congress.

Thousands of workers mobilised by trade unions converged on Congress on Wednesday, blocking traffic and clashing with police.

Security forces fired water cannons and rubber bullets as some protesters lobbed rocks and Molotov cocktails — authorities said they made at least 15 arrests.

The fiery standoff underscored the sensitivity of workers’ rights in a nation dominated since the 1940s by Peronism, a populist movement that has shifted from left to right but has always claimed to champion workers.

At around 1.30am, senators backed the Bill in principle by 42-30 after 13 hours of debate, handing Mr Milei an initial victory.

It still faces a test next month in the lower house.

Supporters of Mr Milei’s revamped labour law argue high redundancy payouts and taxes make it hard to fire employees, constraining productivity.

Almost half of Argentines work off the books and private-sector job growth has stagnated for 14 years.

But the Bill has drawn fierce opposition from trade unions and Peronist allies, who argue it would roll back measures that protect workers from abuse and frequent economic shocks.

“If severance pay, overtime and vacation time — in other words, all the protections workers have gained over time — are up for grabs, it won’t make things better for anyone,” said Axel Kicillof, governor of Buenos Aires province and the most powerful elected official in the Peronist opposition.

The Bill would curb the right to strike, extend trial periods during which companies can fire new employees, allow collective bargaining only at the company level and narrow grounds for wrongful dismissal.