Work in Uruguay is going through a critical stage. However, the Frente Amplio government, far from helping to reverse this reality, is taking measures that deepen the crisis.
This Tuesday, August 12, under the mask of "the people first," the unions will hold the country hostage with their classic extortion mechanism: partial general strike. Ministries, hospitals, schools, and basic services will be closed, demanding more money from the State and affecting those who are trying to drive the country's growth.
But as if that were not enough, Parliament recently approved the "Uruguay Impulsa: work and training" bill, a reissue of the Jornales Solidarios that increases remuneration and bets on temporary jobs financed with a greater volume of public funds.
Paralysis and public spending: the alliance that holds Uruguay back
The combination of union strikes that paralyze the economy and laws that increase public spending without addressing the causes of unemployment is a dangerous cocktail for the country's future.
On one hand, labor monopolies impose wages disconnected from economic reality, generating unemployment and inflation. Their business is extortion, now reinforced by a historic ally that supports them from the government.
Rubén Rada.
Frente Amplio keeps that unionization is a "essential human right," promoting its integration in areas such as national defense and industrial development.
Uruguay Impulsa? 5,500 temporary jobs of four months will be created, with $19,700 nominal, medical coverage by ASSE, and retirement contributions. An evolution of the Labor Opportunity Program from the pandemic, coordinated by several state agencies.
The direct intervention of the State in temporary jobs implies a tax imposition that forces everyone to support positions not caused by the private sector. This distorts the labor market, discourages investment, and creates provisional employment without real productive value.
In short, the program increases tax pressure and stagnates the labor market, reducing genuine opportunities. Forced redistribution of resources generates dependency and weakens individual responsibility.
Meanwhile, drug trafficking and insecurity are spreading in Uruguay like a cancer, Frente Amplio took office without a National Security Plan or a National Drug Strategy.
The Minister of the Interior, Carlos Negro, and the president of the National Drug Board, Jorge Díaz, are convening dialogue tables instead of presenting plans. Negro postponed the National Public Security Plan to 2026 and Díaz the National Drug Strategy to the end of 2025.
Negro went so far as to say that "the fight against drug trafficking is lost" and that markets should be controlled instead of fought.
In Frente Amplio's Programmatic Bases, "cultural transformation" and peaceful coexistence are prioritized as tools against crime, while insecurity grows and the narco-state advances.
