Majority opposition votes to scrap PP's labour reform, “the cause of a low-paid temporary job culture”

Views of experts ranging from businesses, unions, associations, employment law specialists and workers who have fallen 'victim' to the reform concur that it effectively makes it easier and cheaper for companies to sack workers, giving them fewer rights, less bargaining power through their unions, cuts salaries, and has led to a low-pay temporary job culture rather than increasing employment in real terms.

Whilst some aspects of it have helped small businesses winding up or hitting financial troubles to avoid bureacracy when they are forced to make staff redundant to survive or avoid massive debt, the general view is that most firms use it to curtail working conditions, pay and job security.

The right-wing PP's direct opposite, the PSOE (socialists), along with the Catalunya Left Republicans, Valencia's regional left-wing Compromís, leftist independents Unidos Podemos, and the Basque National Party (PNV) all voted in favour of socialist employment spokesman Rafael Simancas' motion to scrap the reform and create a new Workers' Statute to replace it.

This was enough that the PP's vote against, and centre-right Ciudadanos' and Catalunya democrats PDCat's abstaining, could not stop the motion from going through.

Simancas stressed that Parliament did not want to 'wipe out all labour rules in one fell swoop', but to discuss and implement major changes where needed.

Unions, business associations, political groups and the 17 regional governments will be given almost free rein to design the new Workers' Statute, although it will need to be signed off by Parliament before coming into effect.

“The PP's labour reform has only brought more long-term unemployment, more in-work poverty, and less job security,” Simancas declared, saying the main issues was not just creating more jobs, but jobs of good quality and stability.

This means axing the labour reform's clause which means employers do not have to state the cause when firing staff or declining to renew their temporary contracts; allowing industry-based working conditions agreements in place to take precedence over those of individual companies; simplifying the extensive work contract structure, and ending the disadvantages suffered by temporary workers over permanent staff in line with the European Union's requirements.

“Collective bargaining [over working conditions and pay] cannot and must not be a case of unilateral power on the boss' part,” Simancas added.

This includes 'bosses' unilateral power' to set whatever working hours they please to the detriment of a work-life balance and family commitments, although this will be dealt with as a separate issue.

PDCat's employment spokesman Carles Campuzano said his party abstained because the 'challenges' Spain's labour market faced were 'not about abolishing reforms', but 'about building new labour relations adapted to the new economy and the 21^st century'.

His party requested an amendment to the motion calling for a group of independent experts to analyse the impact of labour law changes between 2008 and 2015, with a report to be submitted in six months.

Ciudadanos abstained because, according to economy spokesman Toni Roldán, the PSOE was 'only talking about abolishing laws' and 'not about putting a brake on mass unemployment or the two-way job market', referring to the differences in rights and pay for temporary workers.

The PP, voting against abolishing its own reform, said 'scrapping the labour law would mean scrapping job creation', insisting the reform has 'reduced unemployment' during the five years it has been in government.

But the parties who backed the PSOE motion said the only jobs the reform had created were temporary, low-paid, insecure and menial.

Wiping out the reform is 'the quickest way for the working-age population to recover its rights', said Catalunya Left Republicans (ERC) spokesman Jordi Salvador.