The confrontation between Labor and Economy due to the reduction of the working day rises to a new level. The second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, accused this Wednesday the department headed by Carlos Corp of vetoing the processing of the measure, contained in the coalition agreement and agreed with UGT and Workers’ Commissions, 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,” Díaz said in an interview in Telecinco.
“Yesterday (Tuesday) we received a written response. They are no longer opinions, there is a written response to the Ministry of Labor that prevents this social dialogue agreement from actually being discussed in the Council of Ministers,” said the Minister of Labor, who has described the position of Economy “very serious”. Díaz insisted: “I don’t deceive anyone and I am known for doing what I say. This is saying, clearly, that the Ministry of Economy responded in writing to the Ministry of Labor vetoing this debate. Yesterday I listened to the minister (Body) and he said that we all agree with the reduction of working hours. “It’s not true.”
From Economy they have been quick to deny the second vice president. “It is false that the Ministry has blocked the urgent processing of the reduction in working hours; on the contrary, given its significance and importance, it has arranged that it can be discussed at the first meeting of the Delegate Commission for Economic Affairs (CDGAE) in which possible.”
Minister Carlos Body has denied Díaz, ensuring that the Economy is giving “absolute priority to this project.” “We are doing it by guaranteeing that it goes through the entire process as quickly as possible and that it also passes with all the guarantees,” he said this Wednesday.
Labor’s desire was to speed up the processing of the measure. There were two ways: through the General Commission of Secretaries of State and Undersecretaries, where the index of the topics that go to the Council of Ministers the following week is prepared, and the CDGAE, next Monday. Finally, government sources point out that the matter “may be requested for regular inclusion in the CDGAE on January 27.”
“Due to the economic relevance of the initiative, with implications in all economic sectors, the Ministry of Economy wants to guarantee an in-depth debate and analysis with the participation of all economic ministries,” explains Carlos Corpo’s team, which insists In this department “it gives the greatest importance to the reduction of working hours and advocates for it to be processed as quickly as possible.”
“The Ministry of Labor sent a request yesterday (on Tuesday) to discuss this matter in the CDGAE and, from there, this channel is activated. We are going to try to make it happen as soon as possible, with the participation of all the relevant ministries with powers in economic matters,” explained Body, who insisted that it is not “a matter of formality.” “We have to guarantee that there is discussion and information from all the ministries that have jurisdiction over economic matters and that is what we are doing, trying to go at the maximum speed possible,” he said.
The clash between the partners escalated last week, when the vice president accused her cabinet colleague of positioning himself “on the side of the employers,” which after eleven months of negotiation with Labor opposed the agreement. “It is almost a bad person to tell workers “no” to reducing the working day for half an hour a day,” Díaz stated, in a personal allusion to which Economía responded by stating that the measure is “a priority for Minister Corps.” ” and “a Government commitment” that “will be fulfilled.”
From Economy they already recalled a few days ago that the Executive must “take into account the parliamentary reality”, with a majority right-wing Congress. “It is part of the investiture agreement and, therefore, the political groups that supported the President of the Government were aware of this measure,” Díaz responded this Wednesday, before recalling that the reduction in working hours “was the flag that Pedro Sánchez raised.” at the beginning of the political course.
Díaz avoided answering this Wednesday the question of whether he continues to maintain that Corps is a “bad person.” “The important thing is that this is the most important measure in the country,” he responded on Telecinco, to mention a report from the European Commission that points out that “Spain is one of the member states of the large economies that has the capacity to improve and expand the wages”. The vice president has listed the “superlative business margins”, that “productivity is growing” and that Spain is “the fastest growing OECD economy”. So, it has been asked, “what is the reason for telling Spanish workers that we are going to breach the agreement?”
He coalition agreement signed in 2023 between the PSOE and Sumar contemplated a reduction in working hours without a salary reduction to 37.5 hours per week. The application, the text said, “will be produced progressively, reducing to 38.5 hours in 2024 and culminating in 2025.” The pact between the two formations has already been breached, because as of January 8, 2025, the maximum working day remains at 40 hours.
Although the socialist wing of the Government insists that the working day will be reduced, Economy disagrees with Labor regarding the timing. The economic ministry proposes that the application could go beyond 2025, for example in cases of agreements already signed. This was a demand from the employers’ association, which asked to leave the reduction in working time for new negotiations, which could delay the implementation of the measure for several years.
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