Buenos Aires, Jan 31 (EFE) – The Argentine government said on Wednesday that it will challenge the ruling by an appeals court that declared that the labor reform included by President Javier Milei in the Decree of Necessity and Urgency is “constitutionally invalid.”

“We will appeal to all of the necessary instances and this will be one of them,” said presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni on Wednesday in his daily press conference at the Casa Rosada (the Argentine government headquarters).

The spokesman reiterated that Milei’s government is convinced that its labor reform is “fundamental to create jobs, for companies to hire and to have a much friendlier labor market for both parties.”

On Tuesday, the National Chamber of Labor Appeals declared all of the articles related to labor issues in the Decree of Necessity and Urgency, which Milei signed on Dec. 20, to be “null and void.”

In the ruling, obtained by EFE, the court said that the articles violated the Argentine Constitution’s provisions on the scope of the president’s authority to issue executive decrees.

The court clarified that the articles on labor issues would become formally valid if the Argentine Congress ratified them during the current extraordinary sessions, “otherwise their validity will cease by law.”

The repealed articles included changes to labor lawsuits, the extension of probationary periods in companies, and the reduction of pension contributions and severance pay, among other measures.

The decision by the Chamber of Deputies upholds an appeal against the reform filed by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), the country’s largest union, which organized a massive half-day general strike on Jan. 24 and whose leaders are mainly members of the opposition Peronist party.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Argentine Congress was set to begin the debate on the Law of Foundations and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines, known as the Omnibus Law, the flagship project of Javier Milei’s government, with which he seeks to implement a series of radical economic reforms.EFE

jgv/ics