The confrontation between the employers and the Government goes up one more step. Two of the decisions taken yesterday by the Council of Ministers have provoked a harsh reaction from the CEOE, which considers that the Executive maintains an interventionist drift, by establishing the prevalence of autonomous agreements, and accuses it of wanting to “break social dialogue.” by giving entry to the CES to the regional employers’ associations.
They refer to the prevalence of regional agreements over state ones that will come into force this Thursday after yesterday the Government introduced it in the decree law that reforms the unemployment benefit; and also to another novelty included in this rule, the entry of regional employers’ associations, such as Pimec, into the Economic and Social Council (CES). Two issues that have been adopted without consultation or negotiation with the social partners.
In a statement, the CEOE affirms that “the Government continues to delve into the interventionist drift” in the field of labor relations, given that it modifies “substantially, unilaterally and to comply with political pacts” a negotiation space that they consider appropriate. to companies and workers.
Furthermore, the employers insist that this prevalence given to regional agreements breaks market unity and that in this way, the agreements reached in the last labor reform are violated. The CEOE considers that in those negotiations it was agreed to leave aside the issue of the prevalence of regional agreements. A point of view that is not shared by the Government, which considers that nothing prevents it from developing this matter. Furthermore, the Executive is conditioned by its negotiation with the PNV so that this party supports the investiture of Pedro Sánchez. At that time, the Government committed to giving priority to regional agreements, it tried to do so in the first decree to reform unemployment benefits, which overturned parliament, and now it is applying it again.
For its part, Foment del Treball has accused the Government of being “a filibuster and authoritarian for consciously dynamiting social dialogue”, adding that these Government actions lead one to think that its objective “is to legislate against businessmen”. This prevalence of regional agreements also gave rise to criticism from the unions yesterday, especially because it has been carried out without any negotiation or contact with social agents.
The second element of rejection by the employers’ association is the steps that the Government is taking to introduce more competition in business representation. If until now, the CEOE was the only representative in bodies such as the CES, yesterday’s decree gives this body three months to adapt its legal texts for the entry of the autonomous employers’ associations. At this point, the CEOE considers that the Government wants to “break the social dialogue by forcing the entry into dialogue forums of actors related to its interests”, as demonstrated, they say, in the changes in the CES regulations.
