BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s largest labor unions called a one-day nationwide strike on Thursday to protest President Javier Milei's flagship overhaul of the country's labor law, intensifying a standoff between the libertarian leader and long-powerful unions as the bill faces an uncertain passage through Congress.
Banks and public schools closed, buses and subways stopped, airlines canceled hundreds of flights and public hospitals postponed all but emergency surgeries. One week after Argentina’s Senate gave initial approval to the labor reform bill, the lower house will debate it Thursday.
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Travelers look at an information board listing canceled flights during a union strike against President Javier Milei’s proposed labor reform bill in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
People sleep near the closed entrances of Constitucion railway station during a union strike against a proposed labor reform bill in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
A customer waits to be attended at a greengrocer's stall in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
People wait inside the Constitucion railway station that is empty due to a union strike against a proposed labor reform bill in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
Workers protest after tire maker Fate announced it would shut down operations at its factory in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A woman sits at a bus stop during a union strike against a proposed labor reform bill in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
The show of force from Argentine unions — including workers in transportation, construction and food services, among other crucial industries — comes as frustration simmers over an uneven economic recovery under Milei, whose government has brought fiscal stability to a nation once plagued by runaway inflation but struggled to address stubborn unemployment, stagnant wages and lagging growth.
Milei considers the reform of Argentina's half-century-old labor laws crucial to his efforts to lure foreign investment, increase productivity and boost job creation in a country where about two in five workers are employed off the books.
Unions argue the law will weaken long-standing protections for workers, including by reducing traditionally high severance pay, curbing the right to strike, making it easier for companies to dismiss employees and allowing 12-hour work days.
“The labor reform project is entirely regressive,” said Cristian Jerónimo, one of the leaders of the General Confederation of Labor, Argentina’s largest trade-union group, at a press conference announcing the strike. “The only thing it prioritizes is the restriction of workers’ rights.”
Fierce union backlash has derailed previous government attempts at shaking up Argentina’s archaic labor code, widely seen as among the most costly to companies in Latin America.
The fate of the labor reform marks the first big test of Milei’s political strength since his upstart libertarian party, La Libertad Avanza, won Argentina’s midterm elections last year — with backing from key ally U.S. President Donald Trump.
The strike occurred at an inopportune time for the Argentine president, who was in Washington for the inaugural meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace initiative.
Even if the labor overhaul clears the lower house after Thursday's debate, it must be sent back to the Senate next week for a final vote before becoming law.
That's because a clause added at the last minute, which halves salaries for workers on leave due to injury or illness unrelated to work, generated outrage among opposition lawmakers and forced the government to make an amendment to the version of the bill that passed the Senate last week.
Roughly 40% Argentina’s 13 million registered workers belong to labor unions, according to union estimates, and many are closely allied with the labor-driven populist movement known as Peronism that led the country’s previous government and dominated the political scene for decades.
Travelers look at an information board listing canceled flights during a union strike against President Javier Milei’s proposed labor reform bill in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
People sleep near the closed entrances of Constitucion railway station during a union strike against a proposed labor reform bill in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
A customer waits to be attended at a greengrocer's stall in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
People wait inside the Constitucion railway station that is empty due to a union strike against a proposed labor reform bill in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
Workers protest after tire maker Fate announced it would shut down operations at its factory in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A woman sits at a bus stop during a union strike against a proposed labor reform bill in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is gathering Thursday with representatives from more than two dozen countries that have joined his Board of Peace — and several that have opted not to — for an inaugural meeting that will focus on reconstruction and building an international stabilization force for a war-battered Gaza, where a shaky ceasefire deal persists.
Trump announced ahead of the meeting that board members have pledged $5 billion for reconstruction, a fraction of the estimated $70 billion needed to rebuild the Palestinian territory decimated after two years of war. Members are expected to unveil commitments of thousands of personnel to international stabilization and police forces for the territory.
“What we’re doing is very simple: peace," Trump said in remarks to open the meeting. “It’s called the Board of Peace, and it’s all about an easy word to say, but a hard word to produce -- peace.”
The board was initiated as part of Trump's 20-point peace plan to end the conflict in Gaza. But since the October ceasefire, Trump's vision for the board has morphed and he wants it to have an even more ambitious remit — one that will not only complete the Herculean task of bringing lasting peace between Israel and Hamas but will also help resolve conflicts around the globe.
But the Gaza ceasefire deal remains fragile and Trump's expanded vision for it has triggered fears the U.S. president is looking to create a rival to the United Nations. Trump earlier this week said he hoped the board would push the U.N. to “get on the ball.”
“The United Nations has great potential,” he said. “They haven’t lived up to the potential.”
Trump started the meeting by taking part in a family photo with officials from nations that have joined the board.
Most countries sent high-level officials, but a few leaders—including Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Argentinian President Javier Milei, and Hungarian President Viktor Orbán—traveled to Washington for the gathering.
More than 40 countries and the European Union confirmed they were sending officials to Thursday’s meeting, according to a senior administration official who was not authorized to comment publicly. Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom are among more than a dozen countries that have not joined the board but are taking part as observers.
The U.N. Security Council held a high-level meeting Wednesday on the ceasefire deal and Israel’s efforts to expand control in the West Bank. The U.N. session in New York was originally scheduled for Thursday but was moved up after Trump announced the board’s meeting for the same date and it became clear that it would complicate travel plans for diplomats planning to attend both.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin told reporters earlier this week that “at the international level it should above all be the U.N. that manages these crisis situations.” The Trump administration on Wednesday pushed back on the Vatican's concerns.
“This president has a very bold and ambitious plan and vision to rebuild and reconstruct Gaza, which is well underway because of the Board of Peace,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “This is a legitimate organization where there are tens of member countries from around the world.”
Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., also pushed back on skeptical allies, saying the board is “not talking, it is doing.”
“We are hearing the chattering class criticizing the structure of the board, that it’s unconventional, that it’s unprecedented,” Waltz said. “Again, the old ways were not working.”
Central to Thursday's discussions will be creating an armed international stabilization force to keep security and ensure the disarming of the militant Hamas group, a key demand of Israel and a cornerstone of the ceasefire deal.
But thus far, only Indonesia has offered a firm commitment to Trump for the proposed force. And Hamas has provided little confidence that it is willing to move forward on disarmament. The administration is “under no illusions on the challenges regarding demilitarization” but has been encouraged by what mediators have reported back, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Subianto, the Indonesian president, pledged to work closely with other leading Islamic countries invited by Trump to “join in the endeavors to try to achieve lasting peace in Palestine.”
“We recognize there are still obstacles to be overcome, but at least my position is at least we have to try, and we have to do our best,” he said at an event at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, where he met with members of the business community.
On Thursday, updates are expected from the Gaza Executive Board, the operational arm of the board, about its efforts to create a functioning government system and services for the territory, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the broad outlines of the meeting.
Michael Hanna, U.S. program director at the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit group focused on preventing conflicts, suggested the skepticism some U.S. allies are showing is not unwarranted.
"Without any clear authorization for the expansion of its mandate beyond Gaza, it is unsurprising that many U.S. allies and partners have chosen to decline Trump’s offer to join the board," Hanna said. “Instead, many of the states most invested in Gaza’s future have signed up with the hope of focusing U.S. attention and encouraging Trump himself to use the influence and leverage he has with Israel.”
Associated Press writers Didi Tang in Washington, Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed reporting.
FILE - President Donald Trump's name is seen on the U.S. Institute of Peace building, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
