The train collision between the Ministries of Economic Affairs and Labor over employment policies did not culminate in the final approval of the labor reform. For months, the departments led by Nadia Calviño and Yolanda Díaz have been negotiating profound changes in the unemployment allowance of 480 euros a month that some 800,000 people receive and yesterday, now that the final stretch of the reform is approaching, they emerged again differences
The beginning of these frictions goes back to Monday. The Secretary of State for Economy, Gonzalo García, participated in a forum organized by the EY consultancy in Madrid, in which he emphasized that companies are facing a situation of "lack" of labor in certain sectors with an unemployment rate that will close the year, according to official forecasts, at 11.8%. "It's time to make this reform so that it allows people who are receiving a subsidy to be activated and incorporated into the labor market." The number two of the first vice-president mentioned that the modification of the level of assistance for unemployment will have to take into account that some "protection elements" to which the unemployed who have more difficulty finding a job have access have been able to be covered by the approval of the minimum vital income, "which takes into account all personal characteristics and entails a framework of inclusion policies". Economics also suggests that the subsidy decreases over time.
In the second Vice-presidency, these statements by García caused deep discomfort. They interpreted that Calviño and his team are maintaining a "liberal" attitude in the negotiation and were against a possible reduction in benefits. Yolanda Díaz herself showed yesterday in public her opposition to the documents that Economy has sent to Treball. Before the opening act of the legislature presided over by the King, Díaz affirmed: "I guarantee the workers of our country that from this Vice-presidency we will not promote any cuts in the matter of unemployment benefits". "On the contrary, the legislative reform that we have proposed has to do with gaining rights, it has to do with the expansion of subjectivity in the unemployment allowance", he added.
These words of Díaz were also not to the liking of the First Vice-Presidency, which, minutes later, explained that it continues to negotiate with Treball measures such as making the subsidy compatible with part-time employment, providing coverage to groups such as the 45 years without family burdens, which until now did not enjoy protection, or reform the portfolio of services or the training and work itineraries of the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) to adapt them to the profiles and personal situations of the unemployed, among other measures .
Another point of friction is the penalties for unemployed people who refuse job offers. Economia wanted to emphasize yesterday that it does not propose changes in the Employment Law, which was published on March 1, and which establishes as a serious offense "rejecting an adequate placement (...) or refusing to participate, except for justified reasons, in those activities for the improvement of employability proposed in the itinerary or personalized plan".
The president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, asked yesterday that these negotiations also go through social dialogue and that the position of employers be taken into consideration. The UGT and CC.OO. unions, for their part, joined Treball and demanded "benefits that protect more people and in better conditions".
The reform of unemployment benefits that Economiai Treball is debating is linked to the request for the fourth payment of European funds, a decision that the Central Government wants to make before the end of the year, and in which there are 10,000 million at stake.
