Pepe Álvarez, re-elected for his third term as head of UGT, faces the battles of reducing working hours and raising the minimum wage

Precisely, this will be the first ‘workhorse’ that the renewed general secretary of UGT faces. Although the negotiations for the reduction of the legal limit of working time to 37.5 hours per week –first with employers in a bipartite environment with business organizations and later at the social dialogue table with the Ministry of Labor – the arduous legislative process has lasted almost a year, which will begin once the final text is agreed upon and the process is completed. public hearing, will also require the participation of the unions in the parliamentary field. Some maneuvers that, however, have already begun with the contacts that are being maintained with the political parties with the aim of smoothing consensus and gathering support among the formations, where the Junts obstacle seems to be the most difficult again. to sort out.

Also around the corner are the announced negotiations for the new increase in the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI), although here the commitment of the Vice President of the Government, Yolanda Díaz, is to accelerate the approval as soon as possible although this may be extended until 2025. Pepe Álvarez has already confirmed that the union position in the conversations that the Government will open with The social agents will be maximum – they will ask for a 5% increase – although it seems that the Advisory Commission that will submit an official proposal could place the increase at 4% in light of the advance of inflation, which will close at 3% on average by 2024, and the increases registered in the collective agreements that stand at 3.8% so far this year, a figure similar to that reflected by the increase in the average salary cost calculated by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

In any case, the duties are on the table and the UGT leader will have little time to celebrate before having to roll up his sleeves in negotiations in which they are no longer able to bring business organizations together, which also foresees greater difficulties in the application of the intended reforms. However, despite the forceful and public rejection of the CEOE on the offer of the Ministry of Labor for the reduction of working hoursÁlvarez once again insisted this Wednesday that employers still have time to join an agreement before the final text goes to Congress. «It depends on them. “It depends on whether they want and accept this essential advance,” he said, adding that it is necessary to update the production system.

Born in March 1956 in the Asturian town of Belmonte de Miranda, Álvarez was appointed general secretary of UGT for the first time in March 2016, replacing Cándido Méndez, who had already been leader of the union for 22 years. Later, in May 2021, he was re-elected for a second term during the 43rd Confederal Congress. Now, Álvarez faces a third and final four-year term, since the union’s Statutes limit the General Secretariat of the union to three terms, a limitation that was introduced at the 41st Confederal Congress of UGT, in 2013. Specifically, the only candidacy presented to the Confederal Executive Commission has achieved 627 votes in favor of the 788 votes that have been cast.

Organization of its secretariats

Álvarez will be accompanied by the deputy secretary general Lola Navarro; the deputy secretary general responsible for the Internal Area, Rafael Esparteroand the Deputy Secretary General of Union Policy, Fernando Lujan. The Executive Committee will also be made up of the Secretary of Organization, Andrés Jesús Orta; the Secretary of Resources and Studies, Luis Perez; the Secretary of Occupational Health, Patricia Ruiz; the Secretary of International Politics, Jesus Gallegoand the Secretary of European Policies, Mari Carmen Barrera.

For their part, the executive secretaries will be occupied by Cristina Estévez, Diego Martínez, Amparo Burgueño and Alejandra de la Fuente.