Podemos has raised an employment regulation file (ERO) that will involve the dismissal, voluntary or forced, of more than half of the 200 employees that the party currently has. The aim is to guarantee the financial viability of the purple formation after the notable loss of institutional power as a result of the municipal and regional elections of May 28 and the general elections of July 23.
The formation, through an internal letter addressed to its workers, explains that the reason for the ERO is to undertake a “deep reorganization in all areas” to adapt Podemos to the “fall in resources” after the elections mentioned, as advanced yesterday by El Periódico de España and confirmed by La Vanguardia.
In some autonomous communities there has been a decrease in financial resources, but in others, such as the Community of Madrid or the Valencian Community, the electoral cycle has left Podemos without any subsidy.
Nine territories will be affected by the regulatory file: Aragon, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Madrid, the Valencian Community and Galicia. Podemos has asked workers who, voluntarily, want to take up the ERO, to communicate this.
The formation led by Ione Belarra had 222 workers at the end of 2022, between the party, the parliamentary group in the Congress of Deputies and the municipal groups. Now the aim is to reduce the workforce until there are around 100 employees.
Last year, the purple team spent 6.1 million euros on staff, including payroll and Social Security contributions. In 2017, Podemos had more than 400 workers and spent 12 million euros on salaries and social security contributions. At the time, it had 45 deputies in the Unides Podemos parliamentary group. The next legislature will have only five, included in the Sumar coalition.
“The revenue forecasts for the next electoral cycle are calculated, at first and after having made an initial assessment of the situation, at almost 70% less state resources and at an approximate average of 90% less in the affected territories”, explains Podemos to its workers.
Therefore, “this reduction in income entails the unavoidable need to adapt expenses of all kinds, including labor costs, which in the case of the affected territories will involve the termination of contracts and the closure of work centers, and state scale, a reduction in the workforce”.
With this file and the closure of some offices, Podemos aims to ensure its political action and “guarantee the continuity of the progress of transformative policies” and adds: “We deeply regret having to initiate a procedure for the regulation of ’employment for economic, technical and organizational reasons, following the results obtained’.
The ERO will not affect the husband of Yolanda Díaz, whom Podemos gave a job in the internal organization after the formation of the central government, in 2020, since he voluntarily left the party a few weeks ago, according to sources close to the formation .
