The general secretary of UGT, Pepe Alvarez, has not managed to get the president of Junts, former president of the Generalitat of Catalonia and fugitive from Justice since 2017, Carles Puigdemont, guarantee the support of his training for the reduction of the working day to 37.5 hours per week, although he has stated that he did not leave the meeting they held this Monday in Waterloo (Belgium) with the same opinion with which came in. «I have the feeling that in relation to what Junts’ position will be, there is work to be done and we are going to try to do it with all our strength. I think that President Puigdemont did not have the same position when he came in as when he left. Although this is my assessment and I will try to make this go further,” said Álvarez.
In an appearance before the press after meeting for an hour and a half with Puigdemont, the leader of UGT, accompanied by the top leader of the union in Catalonia, Camil Ros, He explained that he has delivered to the president of Junts a study on how the reduction in working time would affect Catalonia. «We are talking about an impact that is around 70% of the workers. It is also true that there is a very important part of the workers who are not affected by the 100% reduction from 40 to 37 and a half hours, but are on that path between 37 and a half and 40,” he added, reports Ep.
Álvarez has pointed out that, during the meeting, the first he had with Puigdemont after their last meeting nine years ago, when he was still president of the Generalitat, he asked the leader of Junts if negotiations at the political level lead to a cooperation process, hold a new meeting with more data so that your party adopts a position on the reduction of working hours similar to that of the PNV. This would imply “not denying” the reduction of the working day to 37.5 hours and going to a negotiation process to be able to apply this measure “with a certain consensus,” he noted.
Apart from the reduction in hours, Álvarez has stated that they have addressed other aspects that the union would like them to be part of Junts’ agenda in the negotiations it may have with the Government. «We have spoken with him about everything that has to do with the development of the electric car, not only from the industrial point of view, which is advancing at a positive pace, but also in terms of the infrastructures necessary for the car to electric vehicle in our country can work, that in addition to being sold in dealerships, it has enough hook-up points so that it can be used on a regular basis,” said Álvarez.
There has also been talk of fiscal policies in relation to the electric car as a necessary element for it to become a reality and for “in a short time” Spain to have a level of electrification similar to that of countries like Portugal. «In that sense, I believe that we will be able to continue a line of work with the Junts parliamentary group, with the Junts leadership itself that allows us to move forward. Therefore, It has been a positive meeting for us, a meeting that opens doors for us to continue a dialogue with President Puigdemont and that will allow us in the near future to approve agreements, regulations and regulations, and if they do not approve them, that they can be carriers of those union proposals”, has stressed.
The union leader has stated that it is UGT’s intention to establish “permanent channels of relationship and negotiation with Junts”, both at the regional and national levels. «This is a meeting that, beyond the political moment we are in and the interest it represents for reasons that were not the purpose of the meeting we had planned, It is part of a normality that we are going to develop in the coming months, because for us, the current composition of the Congress of Deputies requires a maximum relationship with all political forces and it is evident that Junts has an important weight when it comes to determining majorities in Congress,” he defended.
Sánchez’s motion of confidence
Asked if they have addressed the motion of confidence to which Junts wants to submit the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, The UGT leader has admitted that they have indeed talked about the issue, but not in depth. «But in reality I believe that there is an issue that the current Government of Spain with Junts has to finish closing, which is compliance with the agreements they reached for the investiture. And from there, it seems that, if there is agreement in relation to this matter, perspectives for negotiating the rest of the issues that may allow the legislature to continue will open up,” he indicated.
For the UGT leader, “flexible interpretations of the agreements” must be made, as it would be a “good path” to be able to continue with this legislature approving laws and reforms. Álvarez wanted to place his meeting with Puigdemont within normality and has shown himself willing to have more in the future. Asked if this meeting “gives validity to a fugitive from Spanish Justice”, The UGT leader has been blunt: “The same validity that gives him the fact that the CEOE, his vice president, comes to see him.” «In any case, I have said it in Spain and I ratify it today in Brussels. I think it is indeed anomalous that I am in Brussels meeting with the president of Junts, but it is equally anomalous that the Amnesty law has not been implemented and therefore we could have done it in Madrid,” he concluded.
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