Argentina's Senate convenes for final labor reform vote, as unions and opposition march in protest

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — A coalition of labor unions, opposition parties and left-wing organizations marched through downtown Buenos Aires on Friday, in protest of President Javier Milei's sweeping labor overhaul to be debated in the Senate in the coming hours.

The bill, which grants employers greater flexibility in matters of hiring, firing, severance and collective bargaining, has drawn fierce opposition from labor unions and their Peronist allies, who argue it would roll back measures that protect workers from abuse and Argentina's notoriously frequent economic shocks.

Supported by allies of the ruling La Libertad Avanza party, the initiative’s approval would provide Milei with a major legislative victory. He could then showcase these profound economic reforms during his Sunday address at the opening of the ordinary sessions of Congress.

The legislation won initial support from the Senate last week, but must be sent back to senators for a final vote before becoming law. That’s because the government was forced to amend a clause that halves salaries for workers on leave because of injury or illness unrelated to work, after an outcry from opposition lawmakers.

The Senate on Friday may either accept the amendment — marking the final passage of the law — or insist on the original text to reinstate the article. The former outcome is widely anticipated.

The legislative process has been fraught with tension between the governing party and the opposition. The friction boiled over last week during the bill's debate in the lower house of Congress, as the General Confederation of Labor — Argentina’s largest trade union group — launched a 24-hour nationwide strike, while demonstrators from various leftist groups clashed with police outside Congress.

Milei considers the changes to Argentina’s half-century-old labor code 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 that the law will weaken the workers’ protections that have defined Argentina since the rise of Peronism, the country’s dominant populist political movement, in the 1940s.

Roughly 40% of Argentina’s 13 million registered workers belong to labor unions, according to union estimates, and many are closely allied with Peronism.

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A protester holds a banner depicting Argentine President Javier Milei during a protest against a labor reform bill proposed by Milei's government in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Demonstrators rally outside Congress with signs in defense of retired people during a protest against a labor reform bill proposed by President Javier Milei's government in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Argentine Vice President and Senate President Victoria Villarruel presides over debate on a bill that would lower the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 14, before discussing a labor reform bill proposed by President Javier Milei's government, at Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Demonstrators rally outside Congress as they protest against a labor reform bill proposed by President Javier Milei's government in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Senators debate a bill that would lower the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 14, before discussing a labor reform bill proposed by President Javier Milei's government, at Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Protesters rally during a march by trade unions and opposition groups against a labor reform bill proposed by President Javier Milei's government in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

NASA said Friday it’s adding an extra moon mission by Artemis astronauts before attempting a high-risk lunar landing with a crew.

The shake-up in the flight lineup and push for a faster pace came just two days after NASA’s new moon rocket returned to its hangar for more repairs and a safety panel warned the space agency to scale back its overly ambitious goals for humanity’s first lunar landing in more than half a century.

Artemis II — a lunar fly-around by four astronauts — is off until at least April because of rocket problems.

The follow-up mission — Artemis III — had been targeting a landing near the moon’s south pole by another pair of astronauts a year or two later. But with long gaps between flights and concern growing over the readiness of a lunar lander and moonwalking suits, NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman announced that mission would instead focus on launching a lunar lander into orbit around Earth for docking practice by Orion capsule astronauts in 2027.

The new plan calls for a moon landing — potentially even two moon landings — by astronauts in 2028.

“This is going to be our pathway back to the moon," Isaacman said.

The first Artemis test flight was plagued by hydrogen fuel leaks and helium flow problems before liftoff without a crew in 2022, the same things that struck the Space Launch System rocket on the pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center earlier this month.

Isaacman stressed that “it should be incredibly obvious” that three years between flights is unacceptable and that he’d like to get it down to one year or even less.

During NASA’s storied Apollo program, he said, astronauts’ first flight to the moon was followed by two more missions before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. What's more, he said, the Apollo moonshots followed one another in quick succession, just as the earlier Projects Mercury and Gemini had rapid flight rates, sometimes coming just a few months apart.

“No one here at NASA forgot their history books,” Issacman said. “We shouldn’t be comfortable with the current cadence. We should be getting back to basics and doing what we know works.”

To pick up the pace and reduce risk, NASA will standardize Space Launch System moon rockets moving forward, Isaacman said.

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel recommended this week that NASA revise its objectives for Artemis III “given the demanding mission goals.” It’s urgent the space agency do that, the panel said, if the United States hopes to safely return astronauts to the moon. Isaacman said the revised Artemis flight plan addresses the panel's concerns and is supported by industry and the Trump administration.

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NASA's Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA's Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA's Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)