Garamendi intensifies his crusade against shorter working hours: "It's the regression of social dialogue."

MadridIt has been days since the Congress of Deputies brought together so many senior executives from some of the country's main companies, and also the highest representative of the Catalan employers' association Foment del Treball, Josep Sánchez Llibre, and from the Spanish CEOE, Antonio Garamendi. In fact, they are all usually reluctant to be photographed at events that go beyond the business and economic sphere, and they put up even more obstacles if they enter fully into a political space.

The excuse, however, that has led to this photograph being taken this Tuesday at the "house of democracy", in the words of Sánchez Llibre himself, is the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the Transition in Spain and the role that Spanish companies played (and continue to play during this time). The event was organized by the Barcelona Society of Economic and Social Studies (SBEES), the think tank of Labor Promotion in Madrid, to talk about it. Some have tried, starting with Sánchez Llibre himself, who not only reviewed the role of the Catalan employers' association over the last half-century—in fact, he also dates back to its creation in 1771—but also called for a social pact in Europe that "strengthens" coexistence and defended an improvement in purchasing power.

Others, however, did not hesitate to take advantage of the Congress's speakers to send more than one message, specifically to the political class and, consequently, to the Spanish government. The clearest and most forceful was Garamendi: "I do not want to miss the opportunity to convey my concern and that of businesses about the process of regression in social dialogue that we have experienced in recent years [...]. Especially in matters as sensitive and critical for social peace, economic growth, and the welfare state as the SMI [minimum wage] (CEOE).

It has been a while since the Spanish employers' association signed a tripartite agreement within the framework of social dialogue, that is, hand in hand with the majority unions, CCOO and UGT, and the Spanish government, and the latest example is, precisely, the reduction of the working day to 37.5 hours per week, a measure that has just now begun to walk in the Spanish lower house where Pedro Sánchez's government still lacks the guaranteed votes. "When dialogue is unilateral and exclusive, there is only a monologue without perspective. Dialogue is the only way to prevent social peace from dying and the deterioration of the word," asserted Garamendi Díaz.

Ode to deregulation

From a much less belligerent position than Garamendi's, other voices that participated in the event (Antoni Brufau, president of Repsol; Clemente González, president of the Alibérico Group; Pello Rodríguez, president of Corporación Mondragon or Rosa Clarà, president and founder of the company whose own have made the Rosa Clarà company) more flexible regulation in Europe.

In a panel moderated by the former minister, former president of the Community of Madrid and former mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, the four businessmen explained the recipe for their business models to an audience that included old acquaintances from the Spanish lower house, starting with Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida. Núria Marín, Government delegate in Madrid; Representatives of companies such as Mercadona, SEAT, and Glovo, as well as the president of the Godó Group and editor of La Vanguardia, Xavier de Godó, and the judge of the National Court, Santiago Soldevila, were other personalities who attended the business conclave.