Pimec is redoubling pressure to influence the reduction of working hours.
Small and medium-sized businesses have toughened their stance against the Spanish government's measure: "This regulation cannot be approved."
MadridIt's nothing new that the Spanish government's proposed reduction of the working week to 37.5 hours doesn't please Catalan employers. Perhaps that's why They never tire of recalling his crusade against reform. This Tuesday, it was Pimec (Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses) that did so, within the framework of a summit organized in Madrid by Conpymes (Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses) under the slogan "Reduced Working Hours: Not Like This!" This employers' association denounces an "imposition" by the Ministry of Labor, in the words of the president of Conpymes, José María Torres, and demands, among other things, that the text be adapted to the sectors: from the implementation of reduced working hours, but also the new time recording and digital disconnection provided for in the law and from small and medium-sized businesses.
The tone this Tuesday was anything but benevolent toward Pedro Sánchez's government. In fact, small and medium-sized businesses have toughened their stance: "We will now focus on ensuring that this law will not be approved," Torres stated in statements to the media. The president of Conpymes believes that if the amendment period is opened during the parliamentary process, companies "will have lost the battle." This position is in line with that of the Spanish employers' association CEOE and the Catalan Foment del Treball, which have already withdrawn from the agreement to reduce working hours, and is a headache for the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz.
Negotiations with the political parties
In this context, the various political parties in the Congress of Deputies, and especially the Spanish government's usual partners, come into play. Small and medium-sized businesses confirm that they have met with all of them, including ERC and Junts, to lobby for the law to be rejected as proposed, or that, if it is passed, it be modified through amendments. However, Conpymes is wary of becoming a "bargaining chip" in the negotiations between the Spanish government and the parties. In other words, they fear that partners like Junts will accept the reduction of working hours in exchange for some other commitment from Pedro Sánchez's administration.
In any case, the business community has found the most sympathy with Carles Puigdemont's party, who, to begin with, do not embrace the reduction of working hours. although they have opened the door to negotiationThe Spanish government, for example, shelved direct aid to companies to help them adapt to the regulation. In fact, various Catalan employers' associations, starting with Foment del Treball, have marched through Waterloo to persuade Carles Puigdemont to halt or change the regulation currently on the table. According to sources familiar with these contacts, ARA has learned from sources familiar with these contacts, they are even being pressured to submit a comprehensive amendment just as the draft law reaches the Spanish lower house.
"[The government's approach to reducing working hours] violates freedom of enterprise and the right to collective bargaining between worker and employer representatives," all the Conpyme organizations, including Pimec, denounced in a statement.
Pimec has long complained that small and medium-sized businesses, as well as self-employed workers, have been "excluded" from the debate on the regulation. "It's time for an open and balanced dialogue that takes into account productivity, absenteeism, and the specificities of each sector," claims Pimec. It should be noted that behind this complaint is also the allegation of not being represented in social dialogue within the Spanish government. Pimec and, consequently, Conpymes want their own seat on the Economic and Social Council (CES), the advisory body to the Spanish government where the most representative unions and employers' associations sit. In this regard, Conpymes acknowledges that for the moment, it is not considering forming a united front with the CEOE.
Some sixty Catalan business leaders attended Tuesday's event. Sources from the Ministry of Labor view the event as a "customary" gesture by employers' organizations. "They defend the interests of companies, not workers," the same sources point out. "From the ministry, we are willing to listen to [the demands] during the parliamentary debate," assure the ministry headed by Yolanda Díaz. The Minister of Labor has made this reform her flagship.
The reduction of the working week to 37.5 hours is about to go back to the Council of Ministers, where it has only been approved in the first round. Once it is approved in the second round (sources consulted by ARA indicate that it will "probably" be the first week of April), it will move on to the Congress of Deputies, and parliamentary arithmetic does not guarantee that it will be approved by the usual partners of Pedro Sánchez's government. The Ministry of Labor assures that talks are ongoing with everyone. "Talks are progressing well," say sources at the Ministry of Labor. The intention is for the reform to be implemented that same year.