By Alejandra Garcia on November 20, 2025
Argentina has entered a new stage of struggle against the US backed Milei government. What began as a national strike by the State Workers’ Association (ATE)—with participation reportedly exceeding 90%—ended up becoming the first major display of street resistance against the government’s proposed labor reform and its economic and political alignment with the United States.
Retiree organizations, Piquetero* movements, and labor unions converged in a mass mobilization that is reshaping the balance of power in the streets. The protest unfolded amid an offensive by President Javier Milei’s administration including Security Minister Patricia Bullrich filing of a criminal complaint against ATE’s secretary-general, Rodolfo Aguiar, accusing him of “threatening the constitutional order.”
Aguiar, however, rejected any notion of retreat. “If we need to take to the highways on Christmas and New Year’s to stop the reform, we will do it,” he warned, projecting a narrative of prolonged resistance.
The strike disrupted operations across hospitals, customs, transportation system, pension and security agencies, public media, immigration services, air-traffic control, and key institutions such as the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC), the National Institute of Social Services for Retirees and Pensioners (PAMI), and the National Social Security Administration (ANSES), all of which operated only before an emergency to counter an ongoing attack against their standard of living.
Aguiar argued that public-sector wages have been “destroyed” for nearly two years, that juggling multiple jobs has become the norm, and that thousands of state employees now fall below the poverty line. “They want to convince us to wait, but we already know exactly where this reform is headed,” he said.
Call for Mobilization
The union leader also linked the government’s labor reform with its recently announced commercial agreement with the United States. “They are intimately connected,” he stated. “Work more for less pay to lower the cost of plunder. Without strikes and mobilization, they will run over us.”
On social media, Aguiar added: “Workers don’t need to see the fine print to know they’re trying to screw us. We can’t wait for the new parliamentary cycle. Threats, organized lies, and the discrediting of unions are the tools the government has chosen to push this legislation. Later they will accuse us of not wanting dialogue.”
He also announced that ATE would march to the former Ministry of Labor, which the government is restructuring “to facilitate the removal of labor rights.” According to Aguiar, entire areas—particularly those related to labor inspections and territorial agencies—are being dismantled to impose “new rules with no oversight for employers.” After 23 months of Milei’s presidency, he argued, the public administration is in a“wage emergency,” and collective bargaining “must be reopened immediately.”
In this context, ATE expects strong repercussions from the strike, timed to coincide with the weekly Wednesday march of retirees. “The high levels of adherence being reported reflect a growing awareness among workers of the harm contained in the proposed legislation,” Aguiar said, referring to the planned overhaul of labor contracts.
Piqueteros and Retirees Approve Unified Document
A plenary session of more than 3,000 delegates from the Frente de Lucha Piquetero, gathered in Parque Lezama, marched to Plaza de Mayo alongside retiree groups who protest weekly against austerity measures. There, they approved a unified document: “The government’s anti-worker, anti-popular offensive is not aimed at creating employment; it seeks to eliminate historic gains and increase the rate of exploitation,” the statement said.
Retiree organizations, which are frequent targets of police repression under Bullrich, have called for a day of “anti-imperialism” day to protest against what they describe as the “submission and austerity” embedded in the new agreement with the Trump administration. “It is a pact between the government and the Yankee Treasury Department, and we must expose that connection that puts Argentina in a subservient neo colonial position.” they denounced.
* Social organizations of unemployed and precariously employed workers who use the tactic of blocking of streets and highways) as a form of protest to demand better living conditions, subsidies, and employment.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English