He Ministry of Labor has formally begun the negotiation of the reform of the system of unemployment benefits with employers and unions. A reform through which the Executive intends to allow access to new aid to up to 450,000 people who are currently unemployed and without receiving anything. As well as increasing the amount to be charged at the beginning from the current 480 euros to 660 euros, which would then be reduced until returning to the first amount. After more than three hours of conversations, the social agents have not emerged satisfied.
The employers’ association has criticized that the 41-page draft sent to them by the department led by Yolanda Díaz does not include a financial analysis of the proposals, nor a detailed projection of what concrete impact it will have in relocating people who are currently unemployed. The unions, for their part, have criticized its content, calling it “partial and insufficient” and warning that it discriminates against young people and women, among others.
The struggle within the coalition government has been delaying the reform of the catalog of aid for the unemployed who have already exhausted their previous contributions or did not have enough to access a contributory benefit.
Already in March EL PERIÓDICO announced that the intention of the Ministry of Labor was to allow almost a million unemployed people to combine their subsidies with a salary when they managed to find a job and nine months later and once the new legislature was inaugurated, a war has publicly broken out within the Executive, with Vice President Nadia Calviño leading the most restrictive wing and Yolanda Díaz the most protective of the unemployed.
This Monday, the social agents were able to discuss Yolanda Díaz’s proposal for the first time with the Secretary of State for Employment, which did not convince them. “It represents an improvement, but it does not eliminate the gaps in coverage, it does not treat young people in the same way as the elderly, it does not treat women in the same way as other groups,” declared the secretary of social policies of CCOO, Carlos Bravo. “They do not fulfill our commitments to Europe,” agreed the deputy secretary general of UGT, Fernando Lujan.
How many unemployed will it activate?
If Labor and the unions focus on what impact the reform will have when it comes to protecting more or fewer people who are currently unemployed, the CEOE He insists, in a line closer to the approach proposed by the Ministry of Economy, on what possibilities the reform has of encouraging more unemployed people to move around to try to find a job.
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“The text does not allow establishing gateways that serve to activate employment and the incentives it proposes are not sufficient to stimulate the search for employment for recipients,” say sources from the business entity.
The Government has expressed urgency to approve this subsidy reform in the Council of Ministers, despite the fact that it is a commitment made more than 10 years ago. However, it is now included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan agreed with the European Union and conditions the receipt of the fourth disbursement of Next Generation funds. Next Monday the social agents will meet again to discuss this issue and the pending rise in the minimum salary for 2024.