It's a few minutes past 8 a.m. and the Fabra i Puig metro station on Line 1 is overflowing. The train arrives—already quite full—and barely manages to absorb all the passengers on the platform, which is now clear. But the scene is short-lived. Seconds later, a new wave of people, practically a hundred, passes through the access gates and gets off onto the platform. A little while later, another group joins them. In a matter of minutes, the platform is packed again until another train arrives. The scene is reminiscent of the rhythm of queues at an amusement park or the impossible intersections of Tokyo, and it repeats itself tirelessly every 3 minutes. That is, the time it takes for the train to arrive during rush hour.

Foment del Treball is considering taking the regulation of speculative housing purchases, agreed upon between the PSC and the Comuns, to the Constitutional Court. This was announced by the president of this employers' association, Josep Sánchez Llibre, during the assembly held this Monday in Barcelona. "The recent agreement between the Catalan Government and the Comuns is the socialization of private property; it is an attack on private property, a measure that has no place in our society. If necessary, we will promote the filing of an appeal of unconstitutionality or the raising of a question of unconstitutionality against this measure, which we consider lethal for the Catalan economy and society." He added that "the rules of the game cannot be changed from an ideological corner, thinking about propaganda or looking good." During his speech, in addition to insisting on reducing the tax burden in Catalonia, he urged President Salvador Illa to seek support from the opposition should ERC not support the budget. Despite stating that the budgets are "highly taxed and very interventionist," he asserted that the country needs a budget, without which €4 billion in investments will be lost. He explained that the Ministry of Public Works will negotiate amendments with parliamentary groups "aimed at reducing the tax burden and improving the supply of affordable housing." Regarding the budget, he did not mention Junts, but he did mention their rejection of the 37.5-hour workweek, highlighting the "courage" of the post-convergent party in voting against it along with the PP and Vox. This has allowed them to "stop the Ministry of Labor's unhealthy obsession" with "imposing" the reduced working hours. He also warned of "new legislative threats," ranging from extended leave policies "to the participation of unions on boards of directors." Legal certainty and investment

He insisted on preserving social dialogue, which he described as "a jewel of our democracy," and argued that the housing crisis will only be solved with increased supply, especially considering the influx of immigrants, which he defends as a way to "sustain the labor market," and the regularization process planned by the Spanish government. Sánchez Llibre championed private property and reiterated his criticism of the PSC and Comuns agreement on speculative purchases because "without legal certainty there is no investment, no housing, no industry, and no innovation." "A major public-private partnership is the only solution that will work," and he asserted that "it is unacceptable" to try to correct "the failure of housing policy" by making homeowners subsidiarily responsible or, worse still, scapegoats for errors that are not theirs." Regarding taxes, he mentioned the increase in the tourist tax and the municipal surcharge, which "will bleed businesses, entrepreneurs, and workers dry," and he insisted that Catalonia has become "a tax hell." One of his objectives is to negotiate budget amendments with the various parliamentary groups "aimed at reducing the tax burden and improving the housing supply," given the stalled industrial investments. "Catalonia needs to bring forward network investments to support both production and consumption," he said. "BK_SLT_LNA~" public and private sector."

]]>

Given the lack of parliamentary support, the Spanish government decided to postpone the process until after the summer. the negotiation of the reduction of the working day to 37.5 hours per week. It is one of the great promises of the current legislature, especially for the person who has championed it from the very beginning, the second vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, who is also the visible face of Sumar, the minority partner in the coalition government.

]]>

The president of the Fomento del Trabajo (Working for Labor) employers' association, Josep Sánchez Llibre, described this Monday the ruling by the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC, the state competition regulator) authorizing BBVA's takeover bid for Banco Sabadell as "disappointing," "insufficient," "inappropriate," and "hasty." "We ask the Spanish government and the Prime Minister [Pedro Sánchez] to halt this operation," said Sánchez Llibre.

]]>

The Economic and Social Council (CES), the Spanish government's advisory body, which includes representatives of employers and unions, has issued its opinion on the draft law to reduce the working week to 37.5 hours, with a total of 54 votes in favour and 2 votes against. The representatives of the body have discussed the conclusions of the report until the last minute in order to try to reach a consensus position on an issue that, in fact, separates employers and unions – it should be remembered that the former have not even signed up to the text that UGT and CCOO signed with the Ministry of Labour last December. In fact, the report criticises the Spanish government for having requested a mandatory opinion (not mandatory) on the reduction of the working week with such a short time frame (The preliminary draft is being processed as a matter of urgency): "A series of issues of great complexity and importance are addressed that require a calm and in-depth debate," the report notes.

]]>

The current president of the Pimec employers' association, Antoni Cañete (Barcelona, ​​​​1963), will repeat in the position for the next four years, being the only candidate presented. The elections of the employers' association, which were called for February 27, will not need to be held in the end because no other candidate has been presented. This Wednesday, the electoral board has ratified the reelection of Cañete after completing the procedures established by the electoral regulations and the statutes of Pimec.

]]>

Spain has taken another step towards making minimum wage 60% of the average wage. The Spanish government will approve an increase to minimum wage, which will go up to €14,000 per annum. It will be retroactive, starting from January 1. This places the State in seventh position within the European Union table of highest minimum wage and leaves Bulgaria and Latvia as the only two EU countries which, for now, have not increased minimum wage in 2022.

]]>

Apolitical, aggressive and unapologetic. This is how Patronal Catalana defines itself, the new business entity presented this Thursday and which has set itself the objective of reaching 90,000 members. This would allow it to be considered a representative entity and, as such, to be a social agent that can, for example, participate in collective bargaining.

]]>