Economic liberalism has allowed social mobility and constant improvement in people's quality of life. In countries where it is not applied, misery and social conflicts persist.
Unions often take credit for capitalism's results, such as job creation, competitiveness, and rising wages.
However, the fruits of capitalism were already evident in the 19th century, while unions emerged in the early decades of the 20th century.
Wages increased due to competition between companies and the accumulation of capital derived from the profit motive, that is, through the increase of wealth in society.
This is not achieved by decree or union pressure, but by liberal institutions and ideas.
The myth of labor protection
Unions have created the myth that they are the only guarantee of labor protection. In Free to Choose, Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman argues that reducing the State to a minimum and deregulating the economy promotes investment, employment, and competitiveness.
A worker is protected when he has options. For example, deregulating construction would generate more investment and employment for bricklayers.
The greater number of job OPTIONS is a guarantee of labor protection, as happens in sectors with higher education, (such as engineering), where workers have more options and higher wages due to their competitiveness, which explains the lower union penetration in these areas.
For Hayek, unions benefit a few privileged, generally employees with stable contracts, while excluding others, such as the unemployed, by preventing wages from adjusting to market reality.
This shows that their solidarity with all workers is not genuine.
The myth of minimum wages
Minimum wages hinder the hiring of new workers and the insertion of people into the labor market, excluding the most vulnerable: the poor, young, and less educated.
Javier Milei has ironically said: "If raising minimum wages reduces poverty, why be stingy?
Let's raise it to 10,000 USD, or better to 100,000 USD, and thus end poverty!"
Friedrich Hayek postulated that a prosperous economy depends on price competitiveness to coordinate individual efforts.
Minimum wages distort this balance, preventing wages from reflecting the relative scarcity of skills.
Deregulating minimum wages doesn't condemn to poverty; on the contrary, it eliminates informality and offers opportunities for personal growth, progress, and in many cases, training.
The majority of middle and upper-class people start from the bottom, something that leftist rhetoric will never promote, perpetuating the idea of immovable social classes and feeding resentment and envy, far from promoting merit and work.
As Ronald Reagan said, "there is no better social plan than a job," a reality both economic and psychological.
Recently, the social-democratic minister Oddone proposed to de-index wages from the decisions of the Wage Council, but the proposal was quickly deactivated by the Minister of Labor and leader of the communist party, Castillo, along with the Deputy Secretary of the Presidency, Sánchez.
The myth of union representation in Uruguay
According to the INE, in Uruguay there are approximately 1,700,000 employed, of which 1,200,000 are permanent employees.
