Labor reform: Repeal that of Rajoy ?, by Joan Tapia

It was always thought that agreeing Labor reform before the end of 2021, as required by the agreement with Brussels on European funds, would not be an easy subject. And recently the clash between the second vice president, Yolanda Diaz (Work), and the first, Nadia Calvin (Economy), revealed the great division of the Government.

Until then, Yolanda Díaz, whom some call ‘la fashionaria’, due to the glamor of her outfits and being from the La Pasionaria party, had advanced a lot with UGT and CCOO and less with businessmen. Pedro Sanchez He managed as he could the conflict of his vice presidents, but the underlying problem is still alive. The Government is a prisoner of its promise – before the pandemic – to repeal the 2012 reform of Mariano Rajoy, but businessmen and many economists – in addition to Brussels – know that what is appropriate now is correct the “most damaging aspects & rdquor; of that reform, and meet some union demands, but without removing the essential flexibility that it is to the labor market what the measure is a good stew.

It is clear that company agreements allow better adaptation to the situation because the life of companies depends more on the individual income statement than on the sector in which they operate. So what agreements with the majority CCOO and UGT would be more than convenient. How to change the Rajoy reform without harming flexibility? How to reduce excessive temporary without damaging tourism, agriculture or even weekend activities? There are no easy solutions and the unions, who want to increase their influence, are resisting going backwards in the negotiations with the Labor Minister. And even promised by Sánchez himself that in the last PSOE congress he still spoke more about “repeal & rdquor; that of “modernize & rdquor; (the labor market).

AND Antonio Garamendi, the president of the CEOE, has declared to the ‘Financial Times’, a mandatory reading newspaper in the Brussels Commission, that the employers do not want to sign something that endangers the competitiveness of companies. Garamendi puts his finger on the sore when, after signing 12 agreements with the Government and the unions (but not the rise in social contributions) he says that “in the remaining time, 20 days in December, reaching a minimum agreement would be a lot more productive than ending up in maximum disagreement & rdquor ;. That is, the break. A partial settlement and leave the rest for further negotiations? Perhaps, but Unai Sordo (CCOO) has already said that the unions would respond with “high voltage protests in the streets”.

Garamendi sets conditions, the negotiation does not advance, the deadline ends at the end of the year and the Government does not want to die trying

And the Government does not have it easy. November data indicate that, despite the fact that the economy is growing less than Calviño promised (4.5% this year, according to the OECD), job creation is very satisfactory. Unemployment has been going down for nine months and this November has been the best since the 2008 crisis. And there are already 19.75 million workers in Social Security, when before the pandemic there were 19.16 million and those affected by the ertes are only 125,000. The Government shows its chest and proclaims that employment has recovered very quickly.

True, but he said Lorenzo Love, president of the self-employed, and even before (at the S’Agaró meetings) the hotel entrepreneur Anna Balletbò, with a lifelong socialist card, that This recovery is being made with the current labor regulations, that of Rajoy. It is possible to improve it, but is it wise to repeal it against employers and with the risk that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages?

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The labor market is key and needs to be addressed more with pragmatism than with ideological schemes. Keynes said that he changed his mind when circumstances changed. But it is difficult for this government to free itself from electoral dogmas or promises.

Felipe Gonzalez won the elections of 82 due to the implosion of the UCD and because it took away Carrillo the flag to leave NATO. But then he knew how to rewind and called a referendum – which he narrowly won – to stay in the Atlantic Alliance. Pedro Sánchez’s problem is that Yolanda Díaz is not Alfonso Guerra (who covered the referendum from the left wing), nor is she from the PSOE, but from the PCE. And he does not have the experience of Santiago Carrillo, who wore something worse.

Reference-www.elperiodico.com

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