Sumar’s ministers exhibit unity in their pressure on the PSOE to urgently approve the reduction of working hours

Sumar continues to escalate its pressure against the PSOE in the midst of the fight for the reduction of working hours, its star measure for the legislature. This Friday, the five ministers of the coalition met at the Labor headquarters to analyze the political situation at the beginning of the year and have launched a message against their government partner, whom they accuse of failing to comply with the agreement they signed a year ago and which contemplated, among other matters, approving the reduction of the working day to 37.5 hours per week before the end of 2025.

In a closed-door meeting, without subsequent press appearances, Yolanda Díaz, second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, as well as Pablo Bustinduy, minister of Social Rights, Mónica García, of Health, Ernest Urtasun, of Culture, and Sira Rego, of Children and Youth, have demanded that the reform be approved “as a matter of urgency” in the Council of Ministers so that the parliamentary process can begin “and that it is important measure will reach Spanish workers in 2025, as stated in the Government agreement”, as sources from the coalition reported at the end of the meeting.

“The social dialogue agreement signed by the Government with the CCOO and UGT unions on December 20 must be fully respected by the Council of Ministers,” maintain those same sources who confirm that the Socialist Party is failing to comply with the agreement that both parties signed in November 2023 to revalidate the progressive coalition government.

That text said: “We will reduce the maximum legal working day without salary reduction to establish it at 37 and a half hours per week. Its application will occur progressively, reducing to 38.5 hours in 2024 and culminating in 2025.” That first tranche in 2024 has no longer been met given that Labor prioritized a negotiation of the final text with the unions and employers in order to have the measure ready this year.

The employers pulled out of the negotiations at the end of 2024 and the second vice president finished closing an agreement with the unions just a few weeks ago, with the aim of taking the rule to the Council of Ministers. But along this path it has once again encountered obstacles from the Ministry of Economy, which has repeatedly objected to approving the rule as soon as possible, despite publicly showing its total commitment to this reform.

Rising tension

Just a few days ago, Yolanda Díaz made public her dispute with the Minister of Economy, Carlos Body, whom she even said was “almost a bad person” for not wanting to reduce half an hour of the work day. Some surprising statements that revealed the importance for the second vice president and for the coalition as a whole to move this measure forward.

This same week, the vice president deepened the clash by accusing the Corps of vetoing the processing of the measure in the Council of Ministers. “After 11 months, we closed a bipartite agreement with the unions that must be respected and fulfilled, which is being blocked by the PSOE,” he said in an interview in Telecinco.

Sumar intended to speed up the approval of the norm in the Council as much as possible. To this end, it had requested the Government’s Delegate Commission for Economic Affairs (CDGAE) to urgently process it at the meeting next Monday, the step prior to its inclusion in the index of the ministers’ meeting on Tuesdays.

“Given the economic significance of the requested matter and its possible impact on the economy as a whole, as well as the need to guarantee full coordination of the different ministerial departments, it is estimated that this matter should be dealt with under the ordinary procedure of the CDGAE, including its analysis in the Working Group. Therefore, the matter will not be included in hand in the CDGAE of January 13 and may be requested for its ordinary inclusion in the CDGAE of January 27,” says the message that Economía a Trabajo sent this same week.

A two-week delay that Sumar fears may cause the law to not be approved in the current session but after the summer and therefore complicate the deadlines set in the coalition agreement. Economy sources, however, assured this newspaper that although the processing in the Council of Ministers is not done urgently, once it reaches Congress that urgency can be activated. In fact, the PSOE and Sumar control both the Chamber Board and the Labor Commission. “We are completely willing to move forward and achieve it,” they insist. Minister Corps stated this Wednesday that he is giving “absolute priority to this project.”