Labor will make the last offer to CEOE on Tuesday to reduce the working day and will close the negotiation if it does not join

Garamendi insists that CEOE has not received any document with proposals and unions say that the negotiation “does not go any further”

Oct. 27 () –

The Ministry of Labor and Social Economy will meet again this Tuesday, October 29, with CCOO, UGT, CEOE and Cepyme, in which it will likely be the last meeting to negotiate the reduction of the working day if the employers continue not to agree to take the time. of work by law from the current 40 weekly hours to 37.5 hours by 2025 without salary reduction.

In this new meeting, as advanced by the Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquín Pérez Rey, the Ministry of Labor will put on the table “the last offer” to add the Spanish employers to the agreement: direct aid to productivity for those sectors further away from 37.5 hours, such as commerce, cleaning or hairdressers.

“We will make the last offer at the table on the 29th, we will wait for the organizations to respond to us, and if we can count on the employers, it will be great news for us, but if we cannot count on them, we will try to reach an agreement with the union organizations. “, warned Pérez Rey.

The minister of the sector, Yolanda Díaz, had already been warning that the negotiation was “in the final stretch” and that she would convene some more tables to negotiate the measure, but to close an agreement whether for “yes or no.” “The employers have to decide whether to side with the interests of small businesses or do something else, as they already did with the minimum wage,” said Díaz.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Economy has been negotiating the reduction of working hours since January with unions and employers, with meetings that have taken place both in a bipartite manner – unions and employers – and in a tripartite manner – Ministry and social agents -.

During this time, Labor has tried to attract the CEOE to the agreement through different offers: a support and advice plan for small and medium-sized companies with less than 10 workers affected by the reduction, a bonus plan for the conversion of contracts to part-time in full-time jobs, as well as bonuses for indefinite contracts carried out by SMEs with less than 10 workers as a result of the application of the reduction in working hours.

To these proposals will be added the offer that the Ministry of Labor plans to put on the table this Tuesday so that CEOE and Cepyme make a move and decide to join the agreement. Otherwise, Labor has warned that it will end the negotiation and will try to reach an agreement only with the union organizations.

“We have come this far, I think we have shown that an agreement is possible, that we have proposed all kinds of measures on the table and now the employers’ association has to give a final response to this last measure,” Díaz said last Monday. .

GARAMENDI (CEOE) WARNS THAT HE DOES NOT LIKE “ULTIMATUMS”

For his part, the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, has warned the minister that he does not like “ultimatums”, in reference to the Labor notice that Tuesday’s meeting will be the last, and has assured that he is defending “collective bargaining” and that “agreements are fulfilled.”

Similarly, Garamendi has assured that despite the Government’s announcements of bonuses and direct aid to help small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) implement the reduction of working hours, the Spanish employers’ association has not yet received any document. “We don’t know what they’re talking about,” Garamendi stressed.

CCOO AND UGT WILL ASK WORK FOR AN AGREEMENT “WITHOUT CONCESSIONS”

For their part, CCOO and UGT have informed the Minister of Labor that in the event that the CEOE does not join the agreement and the Government uses parliamentary means to reduce the working day, they will ask the Ministry for an agreement “without any concessions.” to the bosses.

The general secretary of UGT, Pepe Álvarez, has warned the CEOE that “time is running out”, since the Government will send the measure to Parliament “whether there is an agreement or not” after raising the latest proposal this Tuesday at the table negotiation.

For his part, the general secretary of CCOO, Unai Sordo, has indicated that the employers’ position at the negotiating table is one of “pure obstructionism”, and has added that the negotiation “is no longer going any further.”

These complaints have been made by union leaders for several months, after negotiations ran aground in the summer due to the CEOE’s refusal to make any move.

For this reason, both union leaders have asked the Government to be “brave” and reduce the working day after 40 years since the Government last reduced working hours, and to also comply with the commitment of the coalition agreement.