The government is trying to normalize 33-day dismissal contracts, something that the CEOE deems insufficient. The employers' organization is advocating for 20 days of severance for dismissals without just cause and 12 days for dismissals with just cause.
The measure would loosen the noose around employers' necks when they decide to hire workers. In its labor reform strategy, the Spanish government has prioritized collective bargaining. As a result, the government thinks that the worker dismissal component is good enough left at 33 days. But that is an error.
Everything is connected, and the structure of agreements cannot be altered without gravely affecting the costs of firing in order to tone down a major struggle within the labor market: the battlefront between permanent and temporary employees.
Workers on open-ended contracts are protected by their provisions (including severance packages), they are not let go during liberalized labor markets, and they end up being temporary workers.
