The PNV will see this Tuesday how one of the demands that it has most insistently demanded in recent years is fulfilled: the prevalence of regional and provincial agreements over state ones, provided that these are more beneficial for workers. The preeminence of these agreements was agreed in the investiture pact between the PNV and the PSOE, it was carried out, via decree, in December and was in force until the royal decree that included it fell on January 10, after We can vote against, along with PP, Vox and UPN.
Now, the Council of Ministers will approve this modification this Tuesday, within the subsidies decree and after a negotiation of several months between the jeltzales and the central Executive.
The PNV gave top priority to this demand, which they negotiated in the autumn before giving their ‘yes’ to Pedro Sánchez and which two years ago also led to the negotiation for the validation of the labor reform, then unsuccessfully.
In fact, it is a maxim that they already defended, in pursuit of a Basque framework of labor relations, in the 90s and to which the two main Basque unions, ELA and LAB, give absolute relevance, something to take into account considering the strength they have.
In the Basque case, the importance of this demand is understood if we take into account the cases that occur today in the field of labor relations and the evolution of the legislation in this regard. Not in vain, the labor reforms of 2010 and 2012 favored the prioritization of state agreements over regional or provincial ones.
In 2017, however, the Basque unions closed an Interprofessional Agreement with Confebask by which regional or provincial agreements would be prioritized. That agreement, however, did not have sufficient legal certainty and, in the event of an appeal, the companies had a good chance of the courts ruling in favor of the prevalence of state agreements.
The legal modification that the Council of Ministers will carry out this Tuesday will provide sufficient legal certainty, according to the sources consulted, for the regional or provincial agreements to prevail, with what this means from the point of view of improving the working conditions of workers.
In the Basque case, from the perspective of the PNV, this has obvious relevance, since the perspective of the Basque labor relations field has led to the differences between agreements in some sectors being abysmal, in favor of workers covered by agreements of a nature. Basque autonomous region.
In any case, it is a measure that will have scope throughout Spain and will bring benefits in all those sectors and territories in which there are provincial or regional agreements that are more beneficial for workers.