Since the global economic crisis came into our lives We heard the importance of welfare reform to help us out of it. Actually, this is not something new, is not this crisis, as happened earlier in past crises, for example in which our country lived in the eighties. A crisis that years earlier had beaten the rest of Europe, but here it was late, because democracy also arrived late.
These days do not stop hearing the term "labor reform" as if it were the Holy Grail. How hard is to move forward a project that benefits the vast majority of English out of the crisis? Why is it taking so long presentation labor reform for further analysis and debate? Can employers and unions reach a point of understanding? These are the questions that makes the ordinary citizen English. At least the following with some interest the anti-crisis economic debate.
It seems that at least we have fixed for the presentation of the labor reform bill drafted by the Ministry of Labour and Immigration. According Corbacho said the minister, the presentation will be held on Feb. 5, after fifteen days of delays due to the lack of understanding between Government, employers and unions. There are many measures to be taken in this labor reform, some already known as the extension of retirement age to 67 or 70 years or encouragement of youth employment. However, we know the main disagreements between employers and unions.
The main controversy between employers (CEOE) and unions (UGT and CCOO) comes from wage bargaining. Unions complain that in many companies and sectors are in breach of the agreed multi-year agreements in effect raise the wage increases low, lower than expected inflation. In the reaction of employers to this complaint (CEOE excuses that we have a situation "Exceptional" and cases that occur in "isolated"), the unions point out that when the economy was positive, they respected what they had agreed in the agreements, without raising so high wage increases or changes in the model of wage determination who have signed with the CEOE and Cepyme Interconfederal Collective Bargaining Agreement (ANC) and fixing the remuneration increases based on expected inflation, negotiated sharing of productivity and wage revision clauses.
Another point that separate the two operators is the interest the CEOE in undertaking structural reforms to improve competitiveness of businesses or the need to reduce social charges to boost business and employment training. The unions would show willing to discuss these issues, but they refuse to have any reform if there is complete agreement between all parties.
And with this kind of grief, what position taken by the Government? As the warmest possible. For now, through the Labor Minister Celestino Corbacho, merely states that they will not make decisions without the agreement of all parties, and make clear that, for them, the "epicenter" of the crisis not be solved only with the labor reform. Given this kind of passivity on the part of the Government, the leader of the Popular Party, Mariano Rajoy, has already positioned itself for a labor reform that talk of mediation in the labor market, collective bargaining, training and duality in the contracts.
now have to wait until Feb. 5 and see if both government and employers and unions do the work for which they were elected: to reach the best possible deal for the best interests of their constituents, which in this case are all . Labor reform is a reality only if all actors do their part and work to succeed. By contrast, if everyone just looking for your benefit, the reform will be a chimera.
