Employers' associations march through Waterloo to demand that Puigdemont stop the reduction of working hours

BarcelonaThe first employers' association to take a public photo with former president Carles Puigdemont since his exile in 2017 was Foment del Treball. It was during the campaign for the Catalan elections on May 12 (therefore, at a key moment), when the top brass of the employers' association went to Perpignan to meet again with the leader of Junts. The meeting was cooked up by the president of the entity (and former leader of Unió), Josep Sánchez Llibre, who regularly maintains contact with Puigdemont, according to several sources consulted. Now, however, he is no longer alone: Junts' contact with the employers' association has intensified since the party is key in the Congress of Deputies to give stability to Pedro Sánchez's government and in recent weeks a lot of employers' associations have paraded through Waterloo so that Puigdemont collects their demands. Above all, that of stopping the reduction of the working day to 37.5 hours a week promoted by the Spanish vice president and leader of Sumar, Yolanda Díaz.

This week it has been the turn of the Vallesan employers' association Cecot, headed by its president, Xavier Panés. "This measure cannot be imposed outside of social dialogue, and even less so when the impact on self-employed workers and SMEs is of a magnitude that is not comparable with either the public sector or large companies," he said after meeting with the former President of the Government. The Cecot delegation was also accompanied by the trade associations Comertia, Retail and the business association of self-employed workers Autcat.

They are not the first business associations, however, to travel to Belgium. At the end of January, the employers' association of the Automotive Distribution (Fecavem) and the Metallurgical Employers' Union (UPM) arrived, in addition to the Council of Guilds of Catalonia. They expressed the same concern: "We want to convey our concern about the current situation we are experiencing, promoted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy. It only complicates the viability of companies [...] and today Junts has a position that can tip the balance in all legislative changes," said Jaume Roura, president of Fecavem and UPM. Pimec, on its fiftieth anniversary on January 21, also invited Puigdemont to attend for streaming together with the president, Salvador Illa, and the former presidents Jordi Pujol, José Montilla, Artur Mas, Quim Torra and Pere Aragonès. The person who weaves these relations with the business community, beyond the interlocutors that may exist in the party, is above all the president of the parliamentary group, Albert Batet, who maintains good relations with the business community both in Catalonia and in Madrid.

UGT also tries to do so

For now, the employers' associations are winning the battle to convince Junts, which has turned its nose up at the reduction of working hours from the start. The party's general secretary, Jordi Turull, has assured that negotiations have already begun with Díaz, but that they are closer to a no than a yes: "It causes more harm than good," he said, stating that the effects on small and medium-sized companies have not been calculated. In any case, the unions are not throwing in the towel and the general secretary of UGT, Pepe Álvarez, also visited Puigdemont in Belgium. after nine years without meeting to convince him of the benefits of legislative change. The union leader was optimistic, but the former president will decide.