Employers’ association of manufacturers and distributors Spain, The reduction of the working day to 37 and a half hours per week, which was the star measure of the coalition agreement between PSOE and Sumar, which brought together 1,200 executives from the sector at its 38th Congress in Zaragoza this Wednesday and Thursday, was harshly attacked. President of the Association of Manufacturers and Distributors (Aecoc), Javier CampoHe warned this Wednesday that the reduction of the working day would “destroy” the already low productivity of the Spanish economy, which, in his opinion, has become a “widespread evil”.
Campo explained that Spain’s productivity was 24 percent lower than in the eurozone and that the situation was becoming “increasingly complex”. On a path that will “destroy competitiveness” of the Spanish economy. He also revealed the details of Spain. 1.1 million more workers than in 2019but they work the same hours in total.
The reasons for this fact are that most of these jobs are in the public sector, while others are part-time and also between workplaces. He stated that 400,000 and 500,000 were created to address work absenteeism.
He also criticized the drift and polarization of Spanish politics that made it impossible to reach the large “minimum” consensus that the country should face the current challenges for a sector that has not and will not recover from Covid. By 2025. he guessed. “Unfortunately, nothing good can come from permanent division,” he stressed.
Zaragoza Chamber of Commerce does not see this as bad
However, the general secretary Zaragoza Chamber of Commerce, José Miguel Sánchez, He sees no problem in reducing working hours in relation to productivity, but called for agreements within the framework of social dialogue between business and trade union organisations. This was stated in relation to the programmatic agreement reached between PSOE and Sumar, which includes a gradual reduction of the maximum legal working day from the current 40 hours per week to 38.5 hours in 2024 and 37.5 hours in 2025.
Sánchez insisted that these decisions should be decided in social dialogue and based on how the economy develops, but he also overlooked this point. agreement PSOE And To add, Structural reforms of the Spanish economy mean that action “will be inevitable” and will force the European Union to reduce its public deficit.