“The reduction of the working day is the debate of our time.” With a call for a “new international labor alliance”, with more rights and shorter working days, the second vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, inaugurated this Wednesday night the International Labor Congressan event organized by its Ministry, which brings together on November 13 and 14 in Madrid Labor officials from several states, such as Slovenia, Guatemala and Palestine, among others, politicians, trade unionists, legal experts and intellectuals on labor matters at an international level. .
After an initial minute of silence for the victims of DANA in Valencia and Castilla-La Mancha, Vice President Yolanda Díaz was in charge of opening the inauguration of the Congress, which was followed by the leaders of the majority unions in Spain, Unai Sordo (CCOO) and Pepe Álvarez (UGT). In addition, the inaugural session featured a video intervention by the former director general of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Juan Somavía. The meeting of US Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders was also planned, but it did not take place and has been postponed to tomorrow, according to Labor.
Yolanda Díaz has demanded the organization of workers and unions to continue gaining labor rights, in the face of neoliberalism and the will of some large companies to limit democracy. “There are monopolies that act like governments and that compete with governments,” he warned, which is why he called for progress in greater democratization of the economy.
“Democracy must enter companies,” said Díaz, who has mentioned several options for this. From the ability of workers to organize through strikes, collective bargaining and social dialogue with governments, but also one of its political proposals at the national level, that workers can enter the boards of directors of large companies. .
The distribution of wealth between capital and labor has been another of the ways indicated to expand democracy in the economy, highlighted Díaz, where he underlined his proposal to reduce the working day.
“We are heirs of the hard-working people who gave their lives 140 years ago to reduce the working day. We come from La Canadiane”, recalled the Minister of Labor, about the milestone of the global labor movement that put our country at the center due to the battle won by the 8 hours of daily work of the workers of the electrical company La Canadiane of Barcelona. in 1919. “We must follow in his wake,” claimed Yolanda Díaz.
“We have intellectually defeated neoliberalism”
Díaz has celebrated several of the policies approved in recent years as Minister of Labor, such as the increase in the minimum wage, labor reform and ERTE in the pandemic.
“We have shown that crisis management does not have to be the neoliberal vision,” highlighted the second vice president, who has shared with the leaders of the majority unions her role in “the intellectual defeat” of neoliberal policies. “We have defeated them intellectually,” said Yolanda Díaz regarding the increases in the minimum wage and the “apocalyptic” visions of massive job losses.
For their part, the general secretaries of CCOO and UGT have highlighted the need for “a new social contract.” With which, beyond the speeches and the “story” that centers politics, new rights and facts are consolidated in which the working classes “improve their material living conditions”, such as through an increase in their salaries or a reduction of their working hours, highlighted Unai Sordo (CCOO).
“The new social contract is the one that must redistribute, after decades of struggle, once again the balance between the labor factor and capital, a balance that has been broken despite our efforts,” said Pepe Álvarez (UGT).
Díaz and the union leaders have welcomed the debates that will be held this Thursday and that will point out some challenges, such as the effects of digitalization and climate change, among others.
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