Thousands of workers took to the streets in Buenos Aires on the eve of International Labour Day to protest the austerity policies and labour reforms of President Javier Milei, with union leaders warning of intensified industrial action. The country's main trade union federation, the CGT (Confederación General del Trabajo), declared that "patience is over" and threatened measures beyond the four general strikes already staged since Milei took office in December 2023, though a fifth strike was not yet confirmed. The protests centre on a sweeping labour deregulation law passed by parliament in February — which the CGT has challenged in court as unconstitutional — that workers fear will extend working hours, weaken severance protections and erode collective bargaining rights in a country where 43% of the workforce is already employed in the informal economy.