The division within the Government due to the reduction in working hours has moved to a new phase this morning when the second vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, has taken the controversy to the personal level. In an interview on Radio Nacional, Díaz has assured that the refusal of the Minister of Economy, Carlos Body, to carry out the reform as she wants it – down the middle street and with the employers against it – is “almost being a bad person.”
With this, the head of Labor has made public a dispute that was well known but that until now had been expressed in more diplomatic terms. For weeks now, the Minister of Economy has been insisting that the 37.5-hour work week must be implemented in collaboration with the employers and without rushing, and despite this, on December 20, Sumar announced the signing of an agreement with CC. OO. and UGT to implement the measure in 2025 and make it mandatory in 2026. A month before, the CEOE had withdrawn from the negotiations after a year of disagreements.
In an interview yesterday on National Radio, Minister Corps once again insisted on the need to “accompany companies” in the process. By ‘accompany’, among other things, he meant offering a package of aid to small businesses, which are precisely the ones that will be most affected by this measure, which it must be remembered that includes the maintenance of salaries. Body has many reasons to attract the employers to the negotiation and, if possible, reopen the discussions, the most important at this time, that PNV and Junts will not support the law if the opinion of the companies is not taken into account, and that It will make the parliamentary process extremely difficult.
As has already been advanced, Díaz has raised the tone regarding this attempt by the Economy to amend what Sumar already agreed with the unions. It is “very serious,” he stated this morning on Radio Nacional, that the department headed by Carlos Corpo wants to modify the agreement. The vice president recalled that the PSOE advocated reducing the working day to even 36 hours in its November congress, so she says she cannot “understand” that it now “rejects” this measure. In his opinion, “unfulfilled promises” contribute to citizens distancing themselves from politics.
“One must choose whether to be with the employers or the unions,” added Díaz. Likewise, He has assured that “it has never happened” that a measure is required to have support before it reaches Parliament. Indeed, this Government has brought to the lower house many measures whose approval was rather difficult, such as the tax on energy companies.
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