Interview with Fátima Báñez
Báñez is calm and secure that she has taken labor reforms in the right direction and that they will slow down the "bloodletting" of jobs that is destroying employment in Spain, which during the crisis has dismissed 2.7 million workers.
Question 1: Although the objective of the labor reforms is to create jobs, in a recession scenario is it likely that employers will use the new laws to adjust costs through manipulating payrolls?
Companies share a common task and that is to bring profits to the company and worker. The employer wants qualified workers who are committed to the company and as much as possible with full-time contracts that avoid excessive turnover, which in theory makes the company more competitive.
But it is also necessary that in difficult situations, the company can adapt its payroll to resolve the most pointed difficulties of that crisis with their workforce intact. The last thing an employer wants is layoffs. So if it has to pay workers more than required by the collective agreement, a special feature of the Spanish labor market, it will do so in order to ensure employee commitment, motivation and productivity.
The employee, for his part, wants a good job with stability, security, ample compensation and room for development. That way everyone wins. The biggest thing that this labor reform contributes is flexibility.
Question 2: Do labor unions think that flexibility could have adverse effects?
In an agreement that they signed about salary moderation, the labor unions understood the importance of flexibility in the labor markets in terms of productivity and the security of employer and employee security.
Question 3: Finally, the Social Security deficit. Will we have to use the Reserve Fund?
Social Security entered a deficit in December for the first time since 1997. The government is enacting labor reforms so that Spain can relay a foundation for job creation and guarantee pensions for retired workers, because the real guarantee of Social Security is employment.
In eight years, the Spanish government has taken a step back in complying with the Pact of Toledo as it froze pensions and some checks that come from Social Security coffers.
If Social Security funds bear costs that do not fall under their jurisdiction and due to the economy it is losing contributions, you have more problems avoiding a deficit. But our last recourse would be to resort to the Reserve Fund.
