“What if a labor inspection comes?” “Well, you say you're pregnant. But don't worry, they never come here." The aspiring midwife assistant had been attending births at a metropolitan municipal hospital for a month. First, she had gone to a trial day. Since newborns were what interested her the most, she suggested that she come one day to attend a birthing session. The day turned into a month, and as she learned, she took on more tasks. She then asked the director about her situation. “Look, you can stay as an intern for a year and we will pay you 400 euros a month. Or you can continue without paying anything for a couple more months and then we will hire you with your full salary.”
Precisely in those days, the agreement of the new Spanish Government was presented to establish seven and a half hours of working day as a means to promote family conciliation. Everyone referred to the 35-hour work week promoted by a left-wing French government. Then, it was justified by the increase in jobs that such a reduction would entail amid criticism from employers and right-wing parties. Fifteen years later, only a third of French workers do the 35 hours, and Macron, who in his initial program wanted to abolish them, has not dared. We have no evidence that this supposed distribution of working hours has reduced the French unemployment rate, nor that it has weakened the competitiveness of French companies. Both, however, are more favorable than the Spanish ones.
The announcement by PSOE and Sumar made me think of the statements a few months ago by a regional leader of the Spanish restaurant business association. In our sector, he said, in high season the day is from 12 in the morning to 12 at night. Such an attack of sincerity earned him some sporadic criticism, but we have no evidence that in this case the labor inspectorate did not visit his companies to corroborate the veracity of such a schedule. And the fact is that the announcement of seven and a half hours a day is not much more than a new toast to the sun, like when mandatory clocking in at work centers was established in order to control, and at least have them paid, the extra hours. In the best of cases we will delve into the duality of the labor market, with workers in the administration and large industrial and financial companies on the one hand and construction, personal services and SMEs on the other. Stability and the level of unionization make the difference in working conditions. It would be better if the new Spanish Government had committed to strengthening the labor inspection and making it at least as effective as the fiscal one. Then working conditions would improve.
Our aspiring assistant midwife could not check whether the management's promise was fulfilled. After a month and a half, she found work at another hospital. And in another specialty.
