He Ministry of Labor and Social Economy will bring together social agents again this Tuesday to continue negotiating the reduction of working hoursin a meeting in which the government will put “direct aid” on the table for some sectors, although it will be the “last proposal” before considering an agreement with CEOE.
Specifically, the Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquín Pérez Rey, advanced last Wednesday in the Congress of Deputies that it will offer to unions and employers “direct aid to productivity“for those sectors that may be most affected by the reduction in working hours, using hairdressers, commerce and cleaning as examples.
This measure will be added to the plan already proposed by the Ministry as “accompaniment” to small businesseswhich includes bonuses for the hiring of one worker per company when it is related to the implementation of the reduction in working hours. The Work Plan estimates that some 80,000 companies will benefit from these bonuseswhich would mean the creation of about 60,000 full-time jobs. Despite this new measure in favor of companies, Pérez Rey warned that he will launch his “last offer” and that the social partners will say “at once whether this is valid or not valid to reach an agreement.”
“We will do the last offer at the table on the 29th, we will wait for the organizations to respond to us, and if we can count on the employers, it will be great news for us, they will be very welcome to this agreement, but if we cannot count on them, we will try, I say it clearly , an agreement with the union organizations of this country,” he stated.
“Sounds like blackmail”
But these words seemed to have little effect on the position of the CEOE, whose president, Antonio Garamendirejected questions from the media in the Princess of Asturias Awards This Friday that the Ministry of Labor has given an “ultimatum” for the board meeting and warned that “it sounds like blackmail” to say that if the employers sign the agreement there will be help for SMEs and if it is not transferred that “I no longer give you anything.”
“It seems incredible to me. If the Ministry is clear that this is the case and that we have to help the little ones, man, sounds like a threat or it seems to me that it makes little sense to say: if you say no, then I won’t give you anything.” Furthermore, he judged that this is “not very serious and responsible.” “To me the word ultimatum, I always say, I’m Basque, no I’m used to ultimatums,” said Garamendi, who denied that the table on reducing working hours is really about dialoguebecause it already has the “valued result” from the beginning.
Meanwhile, from CCOO and UGT They insist that the negotiation is “blocked” and threaten to toughen protests to try to force CEOE to change its position and push the parties to speak clearly about the measure.
Populist measure
Precisely, the deputy of the PP Alma Alonso warned this Wednesday that the reduction of the working day, as proposed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, “is a measure populist and short-termist that can discourage hiring in a context where unemployment continues to be one of our main problems.
In this way, the PP toughens its tone against the reduction in working hours promoted by the Government, a measure that until now he had not rejected outright. In fact, before the summer, the ‘popular’ abstained when Sumar presented a non-law proposal (PNL) in Congress about reducing the working day.
In September, furthermore, the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, opened the door to studying a four-day work day in sectors whose productivity was not affected. However, days later, he presented a legislative proposal on conciliation without mentioning that issue.
Thus, Alonso indicated that “this unilateral decision would not only attack the freedom of business, but also in certain sectors could put at risk thousands of jobs, especially in small and medium-sized companies, which are the ones that ultimately sustain the productive fabric of Spain.”
nine months
And all this after nine months of negotiations, which began at the end of January, after Add included in the coalition government agreement reduce the working day from 40 to 38.5 hours per week in 2024 and to 37.5 in 2025.
After several meetings, unions and employers negotiated bilaterally in the spring but without reaching an agreement, which meant that in May Labor took the reins of the negotiation again. In June and in the first half of July, the second vice president and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, warned the employers that if an agreement was not reached by August, the measure would still go ahead.
Thus, the tension between Díaz and the CEOE was ‘in crescendo’, with the unions willing to reduce the working day without CEOE. But before the August break, Yolanda Díaz loosened the rope and opened the door to continue negotiating in September.
She seemed “convinced” of the possibilities of agreement and put on the table in recent weeks a plan to support smaller companies with bonuses for hiring workers when this was motivated by the application of the reduction in working hours. But for the employers it was not enough and he remained ‘no’.
Now, Work warns again that time is running out and maintains its commitment that there will be a concrete measure before the end of the year and that in 2025 the working day will be reduced to 37.5 hours.
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