The Spanish government is prepared to hold talks about approving changes to recent labor reforms, but of course, the changes will not be driven by the labor unions? movements and general strike.
Employment minister Fátima Báñez has not hesitated repeating that the Spanish government is open to discussing modifications to the reform and "incorporating contributions from everyone," although for that to happen she has sought out the help of a partner she prefers, the Catalan nationalists from Convergencia I Unió, with whom she is negotiating an agreement for employment flexibility and conditions outlined in the Contrato Indefinido de Apoyo a los Emprendedores, an employment document that encourages employers and PYMES to create stable hiring contracts for workers. The negotiations would introduce a minimum severance package for workers should they do not remain at a company after their one-year trial period.
Members from the Catalonian parliament who sit in Spain's national Congress confirmed that this will be one of the proposals presented through an amendment to recently-passed labor reform laws. The amendments seek to avoid a situation in which companies with fewer than 50 employees on their payroll could not provide adequate severance to workers who do not pan out.
This mandatory severance allowance, similar to what is established for part-time contracts, would provide around six or seven days of salary. The allowance will also reduce doubts about whether some of the labor reform laws are unconstitutional.
Another potentially unconstitutional aspect of the labor reform laws, legally binding arbitration, could also be addressed through using an arbitrator. This is what the Convergencia I Unió is proposing, because the arbitrator participation is already a part of major employment contracts. Further, Catalonian members of Congress will also present amendments aimed at clarifying further the conditions for determining dismissals with cause in order to reduce burdensome court proceedings and labor relations as much as possible.
CiU already voted in favor of ratifying the labor reforms in Congress last Thursday after CiU spokesman Josep Antoni Durán I Lleida and the Minister of Employment came to the agreement that money for current employment policies would be administered freely by regional governments without having to be subject to national government regulations.
