Juntos blames the Spanish government for the failure of reducing working hours: "We are not against it."

Madrid"We're staying because there have been no changes." Less than 24 hours before the debate in Congress on the Junts amendment against the reduction of the working day, Carles Puigdemont's party has confirmed that the Spanish government will suffer a major parliamentary setback this Wednesday and has blamed the Spanish government for the failure of the negotiations, which have dragged on for months. "We will not cast our votes without guarantees, and even less so on laws that put the viability of Catalonia's business and productive fabric at risk," argued the spokesperson for the Junts party in Congress, Míriam Nogueras, at a press conference. She accused Sumar of seeking a "quick headline" and of failing to respond with "specific" details to June's requests. Nogueras argued that her party is not against the reduction of the working day, but that the Ministry of Labor's proposal "is incompatible with the welfare state" because "it forces those [business owners] who cannot afford it to reduce their wages." Yolanda Díaz's party, on the other hand, attributes the opposition by the regional government officials to political will rather than a clash over the text's content, and also due to Junts' ties to the Catalan employers' association Foment del Treball.

Reducing the working week to 37.5 hours is one of Sumar's flagship measures this term. Both Yolanda Díaz's party and the PSOE have admitted defeat—the regional government officials already informed the Ministry of Labor on Monday night that they would vote against it—and are attempting to turn the tables by downplaying the scope of the defeat. On the one hand, both parties in the coalition maintain that the fact that Congress has rejected the bill is not a final decision because they will resubmit the proposal. On the other hand, both the Socialists and Sumar focused their speeches this Tuesday on blaming the three parties that presented comprehensive amendments—Juntos, PP, and Vox—for halting a social advance that, they maintain, also has supporters among their voters.

"There are defeats that are won in the streets and, above all, in the history of the class struggle [...] When a law is in favor of the people, there is no right-wing party that can stop it, no matter what their name is [...] Let everyone speak out." Second Vice President and Minister of Labor in statements in the corridors of the lower house. The majority unions in the State, CCOO and UGT, picked up Díaz's gauntlet and called for a rally in Madrid in front of Congress this Wednesday at 4 p.m. This mobilization will be preceded by demonstrations in all the autonomous communities and Spanish provinces throughout the morning. In Barcelona, ​​​​the protest will be at 10 a.m. in front of the headquarters of Foment del Treball, which has publicly opposed the measure.

"No matter how much campaigning they do against us, we remain," replied Nogueras, who criticized that "only this law has been agreed upon with the Spanish unions." The spokesperson for the regional government denied that it is a debate "of the right or the left," but rather that what they are seeking with their amendment is to reject any harm to the self-employed and small Catalan businesses. On the other hand, Nogueras pointed out that the fact that the debate has been accelerated is due to a procedural "error" by Sumar, which meant that the vote was scheduled for this week and they have not had more time to continue discussing it. Socialist sources also point to Sumar for this stumble, but they close ranks with Díaz, insisting that the focus should be on the groups that will defeat the bill.

The future of the legislature

"The coalition government and Sumar are much more than a single measure, and they have plenty of leeway for the future. We have never given up in the face of a small defeat; we will persist," stated Verónica Martínez Barbero, Sumar's spokesperson in Congress, who denied that the executive's future is jeopardized. In fact, Junts is voting this Tuesday in favor of the decree extending maternity and paternity leave, another initiative of Díaz's party. Nogueras has separated the negotiation of the reduction of working hours from the budget. "We're taking it one file at a time," stated the Junts spokesperson.