When I proposed the creation of a Valencian Observatory of Decent Work, there were those who defended that all legal work is decent. No. it is not And not because I say so, but because the UN says so in one of its sustainable development goals.
Despite some reluctance, its creation finally received the unanimous support of the Council, making it one of the government's six-monthly objectives. Unfortunately, for reasons that took too long to explain, it is not fulfilling the functions that advised its creation.
I resigned to be part of its composition in favor of miscegenation. A model that I defend, despite the fact that it sometimes creates problems. If the alternative is a coalition government made of watertight compartments like the central one, long live miscegenation! But what is not worth it is to empty of content organisms that are born to deal with real and serious problems.
And if you think I'm exaggerating, I invite you to study the extensive document entrusted by the Ministry of Labor to an expert commission, entitled "Precariedad laborar y salud mental".
Among the many things that can be found there, it is worth remembering the conclusion according to which job insecurity is not only concerned with the type of contract or the salary, but is a multidimensional phenomenon. What we had to differentiate between legality and decency. In addition to stability and security, it is essential to take into account the lack of rights, the low bargaining power, or the vulnerability, defenselessness and discrimination suffered when working. Scientific knowledge clearly shows how job insecurity is a toxic social determinant of health. One third of cases of depression in the working population in 2020 are attributable to precariousness. And the impact on mental health is more than double for precarious workers. And let's not forget, this also comes at a financial cost to businesses.
The answer is not medical, or maybe it is only medical. Medicalizing mental health disorders resulting from job insecurity by trying to solve problems by taking medication is not an adequate solution. An economy that needs precarious people doped up with caffeine, anxiolytics and antidepressants in order to work is not a healthy society.
The report points out as one of the most positive policies to solve the problem, the reduction of between five and eight hours of the weekly working day. Some of us have been preaching it for a long time! A reduction project that, in the pilot program we have launched, is born from collective bargaining and social dialogue, which is an advance in the democratization of companies. Another of the recommendations made by the report.
But there is more. The universal basic income, which is discussed only by those few entrepreneurs who would want people so desperate that they had to accept any kind of abusive contract in terms of time, rights and wages; as a balancing element of supply and demand in the labor market.
The report states that making working hours shorter and reducing precariousness could have a very positive impact. It would reduce unemployment, rationalize schedules, study and family life, as well as increase social relations and political participation.
The coordinator of the report, Joan Benach, says: "Precarity is not an inexorable destiny or a historical curse. Like every social problem, everything will depend on the policies that are carried out. We must not accept having to work for to be able to exist there, but to claim to be able to work and live with dignity in a habitable and healthy environment".
This was and should be the task of the Valencian Observatory of Decent Work, and it will be necessary for the next Botanical Council to give it a new impetus.
