Pepe Álvarez (UGT): “As long as the president does not say otherwise, our interlocutor is Labor” | Economy | EUROtoday

The brawl between Labor and the Economy over the discount of working hours featured within the press convention through which Pepe Álvarez outlined the UGT’s priorities in 2025. “We negotiate with the Government. They decide who their interlocutors are. As long as the president does not tell us otherwise, it is the Ministry of Labor,” acknowledged the overall secretary of the union, when requested in regards to the distinction of opinion between the ministries relating to the discount of working hours. Furthermore, he has criticized the Executive for making this dissent so seen: “We are used to this type of public debate, which we believe should take place in the Council of Ministers. I don’t think it contributes anything. The Government has us accustomed to this ritual.” It has demanded that the Government approve the textual content agreed between unions and Labor within the Council of Ministers, and has assumed that the pact will change throughout the parliamentary course of.

When requested if the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, ought to touch upon the matter, Álvarez acknowledged: “I don’t know if the President of the Government has had the opportunity to answer the question. I don’t see that he has shied away from her, I invite you to ask him.” At the same time, he has expressed the opinion that the fact that he has not spoken “is not a bad sign”, relating to the help of the chief of the Executive for the Labor settlement and the unions.

The union chief has acknowledged that he has not had any contact with the Ministry of Economy to speak in regards to the discount of working hours. “We know their opinions from what we hear and what we read.” Furthermore, he has acknowledged that he’s shocked that “some arguments attributed to members of the Government are very close to what some businessmen say, who have always been distinguished by absolute immobility; “It doesn’t seem reasonable to us.”

However, the head of UGT has not shown concern about the fact that it is still not clear when the norm will go to the Council of Ministers: “The agreement did not establish the forecast of which Council of Ministers it would go to. “I don’t think we’re wasting our time.” He has said that the important thing is to ensure that “we have a parliamentary majority that allows for success and I know that the Government as a whole is working towards this.”

Along the lines of Yolanda Díaz, he has demanded that the agreement approved by the Council of Ministers be the same text that Labor agreed with the unions (“not a single comma needs to be modified”), but at the same time he has shown a willingness to have modifications in the parliamentary procedure to attract the vote of each party. “We are aware that parliamentary groups want to play a leading role.”

When asked if he considers Minister Carlos Corpo a “bad person”, in reference to Díaz’s statements last week, the secretary general of UGT said that he is not dedicated to evaluating “how good or bad people the members of the Government.” At the same time, he has said that he has “a positive personal opinion” of Corps. “Everyone makes their own qualifications and has to defend them. The day I give a qualifier of that forcefulness I will say the reasons,” Álvarez added.

Another Labor and union agreement that has confronted members of the Government, which has blocked its development for a year and a half, is the Scholarship Statute. “I warn the Government clearly and directly. The Intern Statute is not going to happen with the reduction of working hours. “It is not going to remain in a drawer without being processed.” He has warned that, if blocked, this would generate “frustration” that the union would channel “through protests.”

[Noticia en elaboración. Habrá ampliación]