Union proposals for 23J: 32-hour week, shield the SMI, raise taxes and maintain social reforms
The unions with the greatest representation in Spain (UGT and CC OO) have presented this Thursday a document with dozens of proposals to implement during the next legislature. A text with thirteen thematic blocks in which requests are collected such as reducing the working day to 32 hours a week, raising severance pay, propping up the SMI or maintaining and developing the labor reform and the pension system.
“The measures that the government agreed with the unions and business organizations during the pandemic, as well as all the agreements reached in this legislature, have promoted important and inalienable advances in social and labor rights and have contributed to recovering, in 2023, the GDP levels prior to the pandemic”, reads the text signed by the UGT and CC OO.
The main nucleus of the proposals that the unions put forward to the next Government are labor measures. UGT and CC OO propose a comprehensive reform of the Workers' Statute that includes a “gradual” reduction of the working day up to 32 hours without loss of salary. It is also proposed to reform the dismissal regulations. The idea is to redefine causes and procedures —especially in the case of EREs— and raise the compensation for unfair dismissal.
In labor matters, the document is also committed to continuing to develop the labor reform, strengthening public employment policies and implementing the statute of the intern. A regulation that did not see the light of day due to lack of support within the Government despite the fact that the unions had closed the text with the Ministry of Labor. It is also proposed to recognize care as work and address this issue through a comprehensive pact.
UGT and CC OO are committed to reinforcing public spending in sections such as health, education, housing, social protection, care or dependency and reinforcing social services. To cover these policies, the unions propose to raise taxes and thus equate the fiscal pressure of Spain to that of the most advanced countries in Europe.. Specifically, they propose harmonizing taxes on wealth, setting a minimum tax of 15% in Companies or equating the rates that apply to the general base and that of savings in personal income tax. In income tax, they also suggest raising rates for the wealthiest taxpayers.
In terms of housing, the trade unions are betting that the State allocate at least 1% of GDP to invest in developing public housing for affordable rentals. In this sense, they propose to maintain the Housing Law and deploy it throughout the territory. In the same way, the unions are committed to facilitating changes from variable to fixed rate mortgages and extending the life of the loans to alleviate the fees paid by families.
Pensions and SMI
With regard to pensions, the UGT and CC OO demand that the pension reform be respected, in particular its automatic revaluation according to the CPI. They also demand that partial retirement continue to be developed and that the changes made in this matter be consulted in the social dialogue. In this sense, they ask the Government to leave the polls to develop the contribution of the scholarship holders (included in the pension reform), which the Executive decided to postpone until 2024.
Regarding the minimum wage, the union centrals demand that it be guaranteed that the SMI remains at 60% of the average wage. A measure that is included in the electoral program of the PSOE, while Sumar bets that this income gains purchasing power every year. In terms of social policies, the UGT and CC OO also ask to recover the purchasing power lost by the Iprem (an indicator on which a large part of the minimum income and social aid that exist in Spain depend) and that the Minimum Vital Income be extended.