The leaders of the CCOO and the UGT, Unai Sordo and Pepe Álvarez, are preparing mobilizations against the employers for their “blockage” in the negotiations, but they are also warning the government itself and the political parties.
Pension deal still has unfinished business: Hurdles to get Congress’ green light
The promise to reduce the working day from 2024 is facing a tight countdown. At the dawn of September, the negotiation of the social dialogue between the Government, the unions and the employers’ majority is coming up against “a blocking posture” on the part of businessmen, denounce CCOO and UGT, who are already preparing the mobilizations announced for September 26. But the unions are going further: they are informing the government itself and the political parties so that they approve the measure. Otherwise, “let’s see how they explain it to people,” they say.
The message was repeated this Wednesday by the general secretaries of the two unions, Unai Sordo (CCOO) and Pepe Álvarez (UGT), before a meeting with union delegates from the Community of Madrid to encourage protests against the bosses. Sordo stressed that “there is no survey” that does not show broad support for the measure from citizens “regardless of who they vote for.”
Union leaders are currently targeting employers in this “first phase” of mobilization, to try to reach a three-way agreement in the social dialogue. But if the agreement is not achieved, which they increasingly fear, CCOO and UGT remind the government that it must keep its commitment. And they have already warned the Executive and the political parties that they will put pressure on it to make it happen.
Very complex parliamentary context
The warning to political formations is coming soon, since the negotiation is not even finished and there is no text or vote on the table, but in a key context. Yesterday, Junts overturned in Congress the law of the tenants’ union to regulate seasonal rentals and this Wednesday the President of the Government signed a retirement agreement with social agents that several of his investiture partners reject.
Union leaders defended the pension deal and warned progressive political groups opposed to the pact (ERC, EH Bildu and BNG) that it would jeopardize improvements for workers in areas such as partial retirement and relief contracts, the current terms of which expire on January 1. “It is difficult for me to understand that the formations of some Autonomous Communities that are going to be strongly affected by the relief contract are not voting for it,” said the UGT leader, highlighting Navarre and Catalonia as examples.
“I want to remember what happened with the labor reform,” stressed Álvarez, who was on the verge of failure without the support of these progressive forces. “Spain cannot be hostage to the political divergences that exist in our country. Congress cannot hijack the rights of the people,” added the UGT leader. Unai Sordo agrees and warns that “it seems that politics is a matter of narrative,” but “be careful with things about food and how you explain it to people.”
