Union Disaffiliation with Reimbursement: Milei Innovates

Javier Milei has launched a fierce form of competition that directly affects labor unions. Following the logic of apps with quick-access buttons, the Argentine president has already implemented a plan to allow union disaffiliation with financial compensation. That is, a worker can leave the union by simply clicking a virtual button and instantly see how much money will be reimbursed from their union contributions — as if withdrawing funds from a personal account.

I’m Ricardo Gurgel, an engineer, and I closely follow the economic developments of the real-world application of the Austrian School in Argentina under Javier Milei. I’ve made my bets, which can be found in earlier posts.

The reimbursement will likely be blocked

This reimbursement mechanism is so harmful to unions that it will likely not succeed in full. It’s highly probable that the judiciary will block any kind of refund, even partial ones. The expected legal argument is that unions have provided services during the affiliation period, so the contributions were legitimate and should not be reimbursed. In Brazil, a measure like this would easily be struck down by the courts, and Argentina’s situation doesn’t appear to be very different. It’s likely that unions will stop this measure through the courts without even needing a legislative fight.

More symbolic than effective

Even if the unions win in court and the measure is overturned, the very image of them “fighting” not to return money will already give Milei a political advantage: it fuels public resentment and accelerates mass disaffiliation.

It’s a creative move in Argentina’s political chessboard: high-impact, media-friendly measures that strengthen La Libertad Avanza candidates. Legally, many of these initiatives are complex or outright unfeasible. But in practice, what can realistically be achieved is a simplification of the disaffiliation process and promotion of competition between unions. The elimination of automatic salary deductions for union dues has already begun; now the focus is on making voluntary exit as easy as possible.

A government with laser focus on the economy

I closely follow the economic measures of Luis Caputo and Javier Milei. It’s clear that everything is part of a coordinated strategy between them. This is a presidency focused on fixing the economy so that the rest of the state can function more efficiently. Every move by the Ministry of Economy is under the direct supervision of Milei and Caputo, supported by a highly skilled technical team. Almost daily, targeted and economically purposeful deregulatory measures are announced. There's even a ministerial branch focused exclusively on reducing state bureaucracy — a model that even inspired Elon Musk in designing D.O.G.E.

Meanwhile, the lifting of the currency controls (CEPO) has brought unprecedented calm to the exchange market: the dollar has gone quiet, stable — a stability now driven by actual market forces. As Argentina untangles itself from artificial restrictions, the economy is finally beginning to return to a long-lost normalcy.