The usual protocol of the Ministry of Labor is that at the social dialogue tables each participant is identified with a nameplate, small signs placed in front of each attendee. Everyone knows each other, but it is part of the usual ritual. This Friday, at the second meeting to address the reform of severance pay, there were identifiers for the union negotiators and the ministry, but not for the employers’ associations. Labor had not prepared them because until this very morning CEOE and Cepyme had not confirmed their attendance, according to sources present at the meeting. They were not expected because in October they announced they would not attend, but they have changed their minds. They attended, but what does not change is their opposition to the union and Labor proposal, which advocates for a change that would make unfair dismissals more expensive.
Read more The umpteenth return of Marc Márquez, who only thinks about recovering his physical condition
“We are not going to a table where the main premise is not true,” said CEOE president Antonio Garamendi on October 22, about the negotiation to reform severance pay. The employers’ president considered that the Supreme Court settled the discussion last summer, and therefore it made no sense to attend a negotiation on the matter with Labor and the unions, an opinion then shared by the SME employers’ association Cepyme. However, seven months later, the negotiators from CEOE and Cepyme did attend Labor’s call this Friday.
Sources from CEOE explain that they attended the call “out of respect for the other interlocutors,” referring to the unions. They say they also finally wanted to attend to express their opposition to negotiating regulatory changes in dismissal, “in accordance with the Supreme Court’s thesis.” That is CEOE’s central argument for rejecting the regulatory change: they argue that the high court cut off the possibility of granting additional compensation to Spanish courts that were awarding it based on the interpretation of the European Social Charter. At the same time, the Council of Europe has ruled twice that Spain does not comply with this treaty regarding dismissal, and has even called for legislative reform. This European stance is precisely what the unions and Labor most frequently invoke to defend their position. The unions reject the Supreme Court ruling to such an extent that they have appealed to the Constitutional Court.
This Friday’s meeting at the ministry is the second held to address this matter. The first took place in October, when the unions expressed that they would prepare a joint proposal. After that meeting, which CEOE and Cepyme did attend, they said they would not repeat. The employers’ associations also announced that they would not attend the table where the regulation to allow unions entry into company boards of directors will be discussed.
Read more The Government launches the ‘Spain. Living Culture’ seal to strengthen the global export of the arts
In this dismissal meeting, the unions have formally presented their proposal to the Government and the employers’ associations. In statements provided by their union, the CC OO negotiator, Javier Pacheco, says: “We have raised the need to reinforce and strengthen the causes that justify dismissal, as well as the sufficient notice periods that must be determined to reinforce the indemnity rights of workers.” They have also raised the need to “adequately repair and deter unfair dismissals with sufficient and reparative compensation; as well as guarantees of back pay and the right of reinstatement for workers who are dismissed without objective cause.”
Labor has committed to drafting an articulated text that defines a bill to take to the Legislature. However, without employer support, that regulation has little chance of success. The right-wing majority in Congress already rejected the reduction of working hours, which has more chances of support among political groups. Sources familiar with each party’s positions insist that the no to this change would not be limited to PP, Vox, and Junts, but, as has been seen with the intern statute, it would also extend to the PNV. Moreover, there is not even consensus within the Government, with the Economy Ministry against a modification. PSOE and Sumar promised in their government program a change that adjusts Spanish regulations to the European Social Charter.
On the other hand, CEOE indicates that in this Friday’s meeting it expressed to Labor its “displeasure” over initiatives “that have been proposed without social dialogue, undermining the agreements reached and constantly interfering with collective bargaining.”
Read more Simone Biles: “I hate exercise, after so many years I think I deserve a break”