The Argentine Senate’s approval of President Javier Milei’s labor reform on February 12, 2026, represents a textbook case of capitalist counter-revolution in action—a desperate attempt by the ruling class to reverse the gains of the working class and restore the conditions of the 19th century. The 42-30 vote in favor of this neoliberal assault on workers’ rights, following a marathon 13-hour debate, reveals the naked class character of Argentine politics and the lengths to which the bourgeoisie will go to protect its interests.
The substance of this reform is nothing less than a frontal attack on the very foundations of working-class power. By easing hiring and firing rules, cutting severance pay, and curtailing the right to strike, the Argentine ruling class seeks to transform the relationship between capital and labor from one of relative balance to one of absolute domination. The introduction of 12-hour workdays, while promising to “boost investment,” is a transparent attempt to intensify exploitation and extend the working day without corresponding increases in wages—a classic maneuver of the capitalist class to squeeze more surplus value from the proletariat.
What makes this particular episode so instructive is the ferocity with which the Argentine bourgeoisie has mobilized to crush organized labor. The scenes from Buenos Aires on February 11, where Molotov cocktails flew and protesters clashed with riot police, demonstrate that the ruling class views the working class not as partners in production but as an enemy to be subdued. The use of tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful demonstrators reveals the true nature of the Argentine state: a tool of class oppression, not a neutral arbiter of social interests.
The timing of this reform is equally significant. Argentina, like all capitalist countries, is experiencing the contradictions of its system—economic instability, social inequality, and the growing crisis of legitimacy of the ruling class. In such moments, the bourgeoisie turns to its most extreme elements, seeking to dismantle the social protections that have been won through decades of struggle. Milei’s libertarian rhetoric, with its promises of a “free-market economy free of cumbersome regulation,” is nothing more than a mask for the restoration of primitive accumulation and the subjugation of the working class.
The Argentine Senate’s decision to allow around 30 amendments to the original bill in order to ensure its swift passage speaks volumes about the class character of the legislative process. These amendments, designed to placate bourgeois interests while preserving the core assault on workers’ rights, illustrate how the state apparatus serves as a battleground where different factions of the ruling class compete for dominance, but all united in their opposition to the working class.
History teaches us that such reforms are never truly “final.” The Argentine working class, with its powerful trade unions and tradition of resistance, will not accept this assault on its rights without a fight. The February 11 protests, though temporarily contained, represent the beginning of a broader struggle that will likely intensify as the reform moves through the Chamber of Deputies. The question is not whether the working class will resist, but how effectively it can organize and coordinate its actions to challenge this neoliberal onslaught.
Trotsky would recognize in this episode the classic pattern of capitalist counter-revolution: the ruling class, facing the contradictions of its system, turns to its most extreme elements to restore the conditions of the 19th century. The Argentine bourgeoisie, like its counterparts elsewhere, seeks to reverse the gains of the working class and restore the conditions of primitive accumulation. But as Trotsky taught us, the working class is not a passive victim of history—it is the subject of its own emancipation, capable of challenging and ultimately overthrowing the capitalist system that exploits it.
The Argentine labor reform is not an isolated event but part of a global pattern of capitalist counter-revolution, from the attacks on unions in the United States to the dismantling of social protections in Europe. In each case, the ruling class seeks to restore the conditions of the 19th century, but each case also generates resistance from the working class, resistance that, when properly organized and led by a revolutionary party, can transform these struggles into the building blocks of a new socialist society.