In capitalism, labor is a commodity, so following the mentality of traditional economists, the balance between supply and demand should regulate both price and quantity. Of course, this is not true in reality. If that were the case, it would cause industrial relations to collapse. Traditional economists have therefore placed great emphasis on explaining the peculiarities of the labour market. To this interpretation, it should be added that it leaves out of the equation the class struggle.

Until the end of the 19th century, trade unions were banned. Behind it was a liberal logic which denied the very existence of associations and trade unions, which broke the freedom of the market. An example of this was the law of Le Chapelier of 1791, which remained in force in France until 1864; something similar happened in the Kingdom of Spain until a Royal Decree of 1868 recognized the right of association. Subsequently, labour law was developed, to make the conflicts between workers and employers more manageable, and to weaken the socialist institutions, among other things. This law raised the principle of "in dubio pro", which, in case of doubt, will support the worker. The economic differences between workers and employers and workers' dependency were recognised. In theory, he abandoned the strict liberal idea of labor relations.

Knowing all this, it is clear that the powerful want to return to the liberal framework of labour relations. Either through new entrepreneurial cultures, with a greater individualisation of labour relations, or through the emptying of union functions, limiting their objectives to economic issues, within a very restrictive negotiating framework. Confesbask said so in 2018 in connection with the draft Royal Decree on the Conservation of the Statutes of Trade Union and Business Organizations. In recent years, this tendency of the bosses has been reinforced with the help of the most common: the executive and the judiciary.

The strength that has taken this direction in the peninsular Basque Country is noteworthy. In 2021, in Bilbao, for defending a migrant worker in a labor dispute, he was required 19 years in jail and compensation. Recently, the Supreme Court issued a judgment in the case of the Gijonese pastry shop La Switzerland, which has sent trade unionists to prison and imposed a further compensation of thousands of euros. In the latter case, the basic tools used in any labor conflict, the concentration and communication of the situation to the people who happen, have been called into question. It is a very serious attack on trade union freedom, which has been done against a small trade union, but which will affect us all.

At the root of these attacks is the class struggle. In short, among those in the trench of employers, the utopian goal is the liberal functioning of the labour market to which reference has been made. Those who have lost shame, the ultraliberals, are clear that this must be applied. They are being strengthened.

But that roadmap will not lead us to a good place. As Karl Polanyi said, the capitalist class will use any tool to continue to maintain economic power, even if the liberal order is destroyed. They would like a liberal labour market and reduced labour resistance. But that leads to authoritarian measures, as we're seeing. That is what is at stake in the world of work, it is not just a question of rights.