Díaz commits to working with social partners to continuously monitor the impact of the war

MadridEverything surrounding the war in the Middle East, as well as Donald Trump's threats to cut off trade, is so uncertain that the Spanish government is still hesitant to take decisive action in approving measures to mitigate a potential economic impact. However, this doesn't mean that the various ministries aren't working to understand how the conflict in the Persian Gulf and the tension with the United States might affect different sectors of the economy: from transportation and industry to the cost of living, as well as in terms of company sales and revenue, and consequently, the labor market. In this regard, the Ministry of Labor committed this Thursday to holding meetings with social partners—the major unions and employers' associations—to monitor the economic consequences of the current situation on businesses and workers. The unions also requested that any measures taken be detailed, specifying the fiscal impact they will have: that is, the public resources that will be allocated.

The Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, met with the top representatives of the CCOO and UGT unions, as well as with representatives of the Spanish employers' associations Cepyme and CEOE. However, CEOE President Antonio Garamendi did not attend due to scheduling conflicts—Díaz's own commitments and the recent increase in the minimum wage. In fact, after the meeting, CCOO and UGT explicitly expressed their support for the Spanish government, while the employers' associations did not comment on the encounter.

"We always act proactively. We did it with the pandemic, and we will do it again now," Díaz told the media after the meeting. Like the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, the Minister of Labor sought to convey a message of reassurance. "We have a set of measures ready should we need to use them," she revealed, and reminded everyone that there are already "tools in place" that companies and workers can utilize. For example, the ERTO (Temporary Layoff Schemes) or the so-called Network Mechanism.

Díaz declined to specify whether the Spanish government is considering reinstating measures from previous crises or proposing new ones. In any case, she reiterated that "experience" allows them to face the current crisis with "serenity." In this regard, one of the most obvious concerns is the impact of the war on gas and oil prices and, therefore, on the increase in fuel costs, but also on electricity bills, which affects families and businesses. Here, one of the measures the Spanish government could reinstate is fuel subsidies.

However, the war in the Middle East and the tensions with the White House come at a time when the Spanish government has still not decided how to reinstate the social safety net measures that lapsed a few days ago in Congress due to the votes against them by the PP, Vox, and Junts parties. In this regard, Sumar, the junior partner in the coalition government, would welcome the approval of a more comprehensive package including those measures and those that must be adopted to address the economic shock of the war.