The President of the Government, Pedro Sanchezhe puffed out his chest imposed to banks and energy companies In his speech to trade unionists gathered at 44th Confederal Congress of the UGT in Barcelona. “There can be no social justice without tax justice. This will always lead me to continue to demand taxes on banks, energy companies and big money,” he declared before the 800 delegates gathered at the Center Barcelona International Congress (CCIB).
In addition, Sánchez reaffirmed his desire to create a right of institutional participation intended to strengthen the role of social agents and, above all, improve your public financing. The head of government thus took up the challenge of the union, which is demanding a more complete regulatory framework from 2022.
Yesterday, the general secretary of the UGT, Pepe Alvarezwho will be re-elected at the end of this congress, demanded more economic resources to cover its activities in social dialogue, from the negotiation of collective agreements to the development of equality plans.
Message to employers
Faced with the “mantras of neoliberalism”, the head of the Executive maintained that there were only “two ways of confronting crises: either from the left or from the right”. “Either a slow recovery with budget cuts, or a rapid recovery with social justice,” he presented as a dichotomy. In front of a complicit audience, he declared that “we cannot say that there is economic growth if it is not redistributed among the working class of the country,” Sánchez said. “We are on the right side of history,” he said several times.
He then listed the main stages of his economic program. “We approved the labor reform, but We are still waiting for the reduction of the working day. We ask employers that there be a law to reduce working hours,” he insisted.
Yesterday, the second vice-president of the government and minister of labor, Yolanda Diazdefended the same measure but in this case channeled its request according to the PP, taking advantage of the presence of Feijóo in the auditorium. Last Thursday, the Ministry of Labor ended negotiations with the CEOE to reduce the working day to 37.5 hours in 2025, after the employers’ organization complied with the planned scenario and ratified its refusal of this measure during the last meeting.
He also appreciated the new housing law and welcomed the plans of the Generalitat of Catalonia and Barcelona City Hall to build more social apartments. Additionally, they were proud of other milestones such as the increase in the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) more than 50%, the correct occupancy data and the revaluation of pensions according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
