The Government will try to reverse the labor reform in the "little margin" that remains

The Government will try to reverse the labor reform in the "little margin" that remains

Sanchez announces that they will approve the subsidy for those over 52 and the price for caregivers

   "We will work until the last minute in this term", promised the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, during the institutional declaration in which he announced last Friday the call for elections for April 28. Yesterday, just 24 hours later, during a rally in Seville with electoral airs, made it clear that they will use the two weeks they have before March 5, when the Cortes will be dissolved, to approve some of the measures already announced and that were included in the 2019 Budgets that Congress knocked down last Wednesday. And among them he mentioned two: recover the unemployment subsidy for those over 52 and the contribution of non-professional caregivers.

   For this they will use the only way they have left, the Royal Decree Law, the method they have already used 25 times during these eight months in La Moncloa to be able to move forward, for example, the rise in the Minimum Wage, the revaluation of the pensions or the salary increase of the officials.

The mortgage law saves its validation at the last minute
Shortly before the dissolution of the Cortes, on March 5, the lower house will definitively approve the Real Estate Credit Law, a rule that derives from the transposition of a European directive. The mortgage reform, which clarifies terms such as the distribution of expenses between customers and banks, has left the Senate to be validated at the Congress on Thursday, September 21. With its implementation, Spain will avoid a fine that amounted to more than 110 million euros . A different way will run the energy standards. On the 22nd, the Council of Ministers will give the green light to the Climate Change Plan and Law, and to the Just Transition Strategy, the three texts will define the country's energy future, but the electoral stop will leave part of that legislation in the air.
Nothing Sanchez said about one of the most expected measures: the repeal of at least part of the labor reform of 2012. However, the Ministry of Labor is not yet given up and sources of the same assure this newspaper that "the little margin what is there will be used ». Their intention is to "get everything they can" and list a series of issues that remain "priority" for this Department.

Labor counterreformation
Repeal the labor reform of 2012 was one of the PSOE flags during the election campaign and its stage in the opposition. However, when he arrived at the Government, he modulated his speech in view of the impossibility of obtaining a parliamentary majority for it and began to speak of carrying out a repeal of the most harmful elements of this norm. Then began a negotiation with unions and employers that ended with a principle of agreement only with the organizations of workers. Now, UGT and CC OO put pressure on it to approve at least the agreed measures. "It is not impossible if there is political will," the leader of CCOO, Unai Sordo, insisted on Friday, while his UGT counterpart, Pepe Álvarez, urged the government to "take advantage of the two councils of ministers that he has left."

Return the prevalence of the sectoral agreement on the company, recover the ultraactivity of the agreements (ie, that are extended automatically until a new one is approved), implement a daily record of working hours in companies and limit subcontracting are those measures already agreed. "The government would love to take it forward," say government sources, which clarify, however, that it is a "priority" issue, but they will discuss it these days and will depend on the viability they see. "There are measures that maybe can be approved in Parliament, but others that without the PDeCAT, no," they admit. In any case, they warn that they would once again convene a social dialogue table and "you will see if you take something or nothing".

Federico Durán, partner of Laboral de Garrigues, shows his opposition to it: "They are not the most adequate conditions to proceed to a substantial reform of the labor order". Durán considers that this topic needs "a serene debate". In addition, warns that "get into reforms through the Royal Decree Law if its use is not founded can be bread for today and hunger for tomorrow," as this method can only be used for reasons of urgent need. How are they going to argue this now if they have not approved it in eight months? Asks this lawyer.

Pension reform
Although Labor also do not rule out taking action on one of the most tricky issues, pensions, admit that here they have "more complicated" because they are at the dawn of the "disposition of other political forces" and doubt much that PP and Citizens " be for the work ». His idea is "try to do everything you can but with the greatest possible consensus", because this depends fundamentally on the Toledo Pact, where until now there were "many advances", but it is possible that the parties "enter in electoral key » Therefore, they are more inclined to have this reform done by means of a law or proposition of law, rather than by Royal Decree, for which they do not have material time.

The unions do not agree and insist that there is a sufficient majority to repeal the revaluation index and the sustainability factor that were implemented in the reform of the PP, which are currently paralyzed but not permanently buried. In fact, the decree law of December 28 included a new revaluation formula that linked pensions to the average inflation of the CPI for the last twelve months, in line with what was also agreed by the Toledo Pact; however, at the last minute it was left out. "The Government has the opportunity to do it, has numbers to take it forward and has commitments made with society and with us; if he does not, he will be responsible », warns Carlos Bravo, Secretary of Social Protection of CC OO.

Improvements for unemployed and caregivers

«I have many faults, but some virtue. And one is that I'm a bit stubborn. And that unemployment benefit to those over 52 years old we will approve, "the president said yesterday, referring to one of the star measures included in the Budgets and extending from 55 to 52 years the minimum age to receive the subsidy for unemployment. In addition, the beneficiaries will no longer have to retire early, with the consequent cut in their pension, and the contribution by the State increases from 100% to 125% of the minimum base.

Sanchez undertook to approve the quotation of non-professional caregivers of dependent persons before the elections, a measure that will benefit some 180,000 people, especially women, and will have an economic impact of 315 million. euros

Paternity leave
From the department led by Magdalena Valerio ensure that among "their priorities" is to extend five to eight weeks paternity leave, so they will "try" also approve it via Royal Decree. However, they recognize that they have "the added difficulty" of the high cost involved (815 million per year), since it does not have a budget line.