The message is formally addressed to all the parties that are running in the next elections, but in reality the real addressee is the PP and its candidate for president of the Spanish Government, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. CC.OO. and the UGT are asking him to make a clear statement about what he will do, if he gets to government, with the labor reform, the pension reform and the increase in the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI). These are three major agreements of this legislature, some of which were achieved with the support of employers, others not, which the unions consider the crown jewels of recent years and which, therefore, they are very interested in preserving. The unions’ first step is to pressure the PP to clarify its objectives, although they also point to the risk that, if Vox were to get into government, the concept of social dialogue could be buried.
The request is generic to all political forces so that it does not appear that someone is already being considered as the winner, but they want to exert pressure on the popular people, who are the party that, with options to occupy the government, maintains a position more critical on these points, although without specifying what they will do. Precisely, forcing to clarify the positions is what the unions intend.
“It would be a fraud in democratic terms if the parties present themselves in the elections without clearly explaining what they will do with the labor reform, the pension reform and the SMI”, said the general secretary of CC.OO., Unai Sordo. He even demanded a monographic debate of the candidates on the economy, work model and socio-economic issues.
For his part, the general secretary of the UGT, Pepe Ãlvarez, stated that “to say that it will be played is to say everything and say nothing”, and added that the public statement they are asking for cannot be a “I will not play it or I will touch it… The parties have the obligation to make an analysis and if there is no pronouncement, the citizens will know what they are looking for”.
In other words, the unions are asking Feijóo to clarify the details of the messages he has launched, such as “repeal Sanchism” and “touch on” labor reform. The two general secretaries claimed this public position of Feijóo in a joint appearance in which they made a very positive assessment of the legislature that is now ending, which they described as singular and “the most difficult that can be remembered”, for having to cheating a pandemic and a Ukrainian war.
But it is also characterized by the multitude of agreements that have been reached between social agents. Some three-way, that is, with employers included, such as the labor reform, the first part of the pensions and the first increase in the SMI, and others already without the CEOE.
The unions would like the CEOE to also demand from the parties a clear position on these reforms, but they doubt that this will happen. “They look the other way”, point out union sources regarding the attitude of the president of the employers’ association, Antonio Garamendi.
In addition, the unions also referred to the “white elephant” of these elections, that is to say, a potential entry of Vox into the Spanish Government, which for them would mean that not only would reforms such as the labor market and pensions, but even the very constitutional concept of social dialogue would be questioned.
