MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez managed to secure last-minute backing for a key labour reform demanded by Brussels on Thursday that is aimed at ending rampant job insecurity.
Despite lacking support from several traditional parliamentary allies, Sanchez managed to push through the reform with support from the liberal Ciudadanos and some centre-right lawmakers, allowing the text to be voted through with a majority of just one vote, with 175 in favour and 174 against in the 350-seat chamber.
The reform is aimed at reducing insecurity in Spain’s labour market, which has the highest number of temporary contracts in Europe.
Although the reform took effect on January 1 following a hard-fought deal negotiated between the government, employers’ groups and unions, it still needed parliamentary approval to avoid being rendered null and void.
But getting backing for the reform proved more difficult than expected, with Sanchez’s Socialists and hard-left coalition partner Podemos, which hold a minority in parliament, failing to win over several key allies, notably Basque and Catalan independence parties, which voted against.
The right-wing opposition Popular Party and the far-right Vox also voted against.
With the reform poised to hit the rocks, Sanchez sought backing from Ciudadanos and several small factions that are normally in opposition.
However after the vote, the Popular Party said it was one of its lawmakers who had tipped the balance due to a “computer error” and had in fact meant to vote against.
It was an “anomaly” and should be “rectified”, party spokesperson Cuca Gamarra insisted.
Reforming the country’s labour laws was a condition laid down by Brussels in exchange for Spain receiving the promised 140 billion euros ($158 billion) under the EU’s massive coronavirus recovery plan.
The new text amends legislation originally passed in 2012 by the right-wing government of Mariano Rajoy in a bid to revive the economy following the 2008 global financial crisis.
Among other things, that legislation made it easier for companies to shed workers and cut wages, with its backers claiming it made the Spanish market more competitive and created jobs.
Although it achieved a sharp drop in the unemployment rate that fell from almost 27 per cent in 2013 to 13.3 per cent today it also caused great job insecurity.
Negotiated for months with trade unions and employers, who advocated a “balanced” result, the reform limits the back-to-back use of temporary contracts and makes permanent contracts the rule rather than the exception. It also limits the use of subcontractors.
It also prohibits the dismissal of civil servants for financial reasons, increases employee training and allows companies to temporarily freeze existing rules to avoid redundancies at a time of crisis.
