The speech that Yolanda Díaz gave on February 16 on the Ministry of Labor appeared like an epilogue. Then, in the course of the signing ceremony of the settlement to lift the interprofessional minimal wage (SMI), the Minister of Labor and second vice chairman mentioned: “It has not only been the minimum wage for six years. It has been the labor reform, the rider lawso many rules… In the face of adversity.” He additionally mentioned, earlier than the president of the Government and normal secretary of the celebration that has ruled Spain for 28 of the final 44 years, that “for the first time” the Ministry of Labor “has its own life, its own autonomy, without dependencies on other ministries.” “This is very important for the political life of this country,” Díaz added.
Now, 9 days later, Díaz has confirmed that she is not going to run once more as a candidate within the normal elections. “It is a very thoughtful decision that I have communicated to my loved ones, to my entire political space and to the President of the Government,” he says in a letter distributed on social networks. The vice chairman commits to “continue working in the Government to comply” with the “mandate of the polls and advance everything that remains to be done.”
He introduced this resolution shortly after reaching his twenty fifth settlement with the unions, a brand new enhance within the SMI, rejected by employers. In the primary legislature, CC OO and UGT supported 17 pacts with Labor, amongst which CEOE and Cepyme supported 12. It ought to be famous that half had been extensions of the ERTE, an important lifeline for firms in the course of the pandemic. In the second, of the eight agreements reached, the employers’ affiliation has solely supported one, and made an effort to dilute its significance when it was offered.
These are a number of the most vital measures that Díaz has accepted in these six years on the head of the Ministry of Labor, first throughout a worldwide well being disaster after which throughout an expansive financial interval that has introduced the unemployment charge to its lowest stage since 2008.
Minimum wage will increase
Díaz’s first main settlement as minister occurred in January 2020, when she agreed with employers and unions to lift the minimal wage to 950 gross euros in 14 funds. This enhance continued the earlier one, when the PSOE ruled alone and agreed with Unidas Podemos the best historic acceleration of the wage ground, from 736 to 900 euros, after years with hardly any will increase in the course of the Great Recession and the primary levels of the restoration.
Thus, since 2018 the SMI has grown by 66%. From 736 to 1,221 gross euros per 30 days in 14 funds. In the identical interval, costs have grown by 23%, which suggests a acquire in buying energy of the wage ground of about 40 factors.
The boosts by minimal wage decree have elevated the bottom salaries lately, however the will increase are decrease within the larger deciles (one tenth of the staff, ordered in 10 teams from lowest to highest and for which their common remuneration is calculated). Since 2021, based on the EPA, the bottom decile has superior 25.4%, in comparison with 14.3% within the fifth decile and 12.9% within the group with the best salaries. The amassed inflation from December 2021 to the identical month of 2024 is 12.1%, so the bottom salaries acquire a variety of buying energy, however hardly the remainder.
The labor reform
Minimum wage will increase are given by decree, with out the necessity for parliamentary help. But legislative modifications do require the endorsement of Congress, such because the one obtained in February 2022 by the labor reform. He achieved it by a single vote and a incorrect one, that of a PP deputy. The remainder of his celebration voted towards, although CEOE and Cepyme supported the laws.
The structural change most related to the labor reform is the autumn of momentary contracts, after the elimination of labor and repair contracts and a larger requirement to subscribe to different momentary modalities. In the final quarter earlier than the labor reform was utilized (the fourth of 2021), staff with a brief contract had been 25.6% of the overall, a yr later they had been 18.2% and now they’re round 15%.
These drop factors have gone primarily to the same old indefinite contracting, which provides probably the most ensures to the employee, which has gone from 72% to 81% in 4 years. But there may be one other modality that has grown strongly and that has fueled nice controversy amongst specialists: the discontinuous fastened contract.
This modality was not invented by the labor reform, however its use has expanded in seasonal actions corresponding to hospitality or logistics. The worker remains to be employed within the off-season, however inactive, so he doesn’t obtain cost and is entitled to obtain unemployment advantages. According to the Active Population Survey (EPA), the proportion of those staff in comparison with the overall was 4% within the second quarter, in the midst of the excessive vacationer season, double that earlier than the labor reform.
The regulation of distributors
He additionally had the help of the employers rider regulationwhich sought to acknowledge the labor nature of the connection between meals supply platforms and their staff. Although the place that the Supreme Court had simply established left little room for interpretation, the Government wished to strengthen the discovering that the supply drivers had been staff with a regulatory change. It was accepted by Congress in June 2021.
The rule was not sufficient for the primary firms to alter their mannequin, nor was the Inspection’s motion and the sanctions that got here with it. They turned after the Government accepted a change within the Penal Code that threatened the leaders of those firms with jail sentences. Glovo accomplished the change in July of final yr and Uber Eats introduced it in January. Despite this, related fashions are increasing on different platforms that aren’t devoted to meals supply.
The unemployment profit
Díaz has additionally achieved a reform of the unemployment profit, a regulation whose path was a devoted reflection of the change in occasions of the second legislature in comparison with the primary. The modification failed in Congress as a result of vote towards Podemos, shortly after the breakup between Ione Belarra’s group and Sumar. That textual content was not even negotiated with unions and employers, which angered each side of the social dialogue. Yes, he was handled with nice issue with the Ministry of Economy, one other basic in Díaz’s profession: first with Nadia Calviño after which with Carlos Cuerpo, each departments have incessantly clashed. There have additionally been frictions with the Treasury and María Jesús Montero, however much less frequent.
Labor rectified, agreed to the change with CC OO and UGT (with out the employers’ associations) and agreed to the change that Podemos requested, that the beneficiaries of the unemployment profit for these over 52 years of age proceed to contribute for 125% of the minimal contribution base. Beyond this element, the laws elevated the quantities of the subsidies, with a progressive discount over time, relying on the profit and the scenario of the beneficiary. It additionally reformulated compatibility with employment and expanded the profit to new teams.
Other measures
During the coronavirus well being disaster, Labor led the negotiations on the extensions of the Temporary Employment Regulation File (ERTE). This instrument meant the sensible nationalization of thousands and thousands of salaries and served as a dam to keep away from layoffs. At that point, additionally in relation to the pandemic, the Government carried out a rule to control teleworking with enterprise help.
In 2020, with out CEOE and Cepyme, the rule to advertise pay equality between women and men additionally prospered. Again with all of the social dialogue, Díaz agreed in 2023 on the Occupational Health and Safety Strategy and in 2024, the decree towards employment discrimination of the LGTBI+ group. That is Díaz’s final pact with the businessmen.
Outside of dialogue with social brokers, Díaz additionally performed a key position in final summer time’s settlement to increase start depart to 19 weeks.
What failed or is pending
The nice promise of the coalition authorities for the second time period, the discount of the working day to 37 and a half hours, failed in Congress in September. PP, Vox and Junts united their votes towards the discount in working time, after Díaz solely managed to agree on the change with the unions. To compensate for the failure, his division is selling a reinforcement of the time report that forces firms to make it digital in order that the Inspection can seek the advice of it when it deems applicable.
There are different laws with a tough parliamentary journey which are in numerous levels of processing, all of them with union however not employer help: that is the case of the standing of the intern, the reform of occupational threat prevention and the extension of depart for the dying of relations to 10 days.
Labor additionally intends to reform compensation for unfair dismissal and regulate unions’ entry to firm boards of administrators. The first venture is within the negotiation part with the social brokers, however with out the employers as a result of they’ve introduced that they may now not take part, and the dialogue for the second will open shortly.
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