After a 12-hour debate and a violent police crackdown on protesters, the Labour Modernisation bill has been passed by the lower house of Congress in Argentina. This bill is also known as Javier Milei's historic Labour Modernisation bill. The bill, which was approved by 135 votes in favor and 115 against, marks a radical change in the existing balance of power in favor of employers, who will be allowed to work 12-hour shifts, with paid overtime replaced by a "time bank" to be redeemed in the future and a new Labor Assistance Fund (FAL) that will reduce the cost of severance pay. While Milei's government claims that this overhaul is necessary to modernize a "broken" system and bring into the formal economy the 40% of workers who are currently not registered, the opposition and main trade unions such as CGT have denounced the bill as a "regression to slave labor" and a further erosion of rights in the midst of a deepening recession. The bill, which also limits the right to strike and allows employers to pay workers in foreign currency, is now back to the Senate for final approval after some changes were proposed to the text by lawmakers.