SPAIN'S headcount has risen to its highest figure in history – for the first time ever, the population has broken the 48 million barrier.
Labour Day protests in 73 towns and cities call for job security and liveable wages
01/05/2017
DEMONSTRATIONS in 73 towns and cities across the country to mark 'Labour Day' called for stable employment, liveable wages and an end to work reforms which make it easier and cheaper for companies to sack staff.
“No excuses. Onto the streets,” was the slogan of Spain's two main unions, the labourers' commission (CCOO) and general workers' union (UGT).
They recalled that unemployment has risen again since January, that nine in 10 new jobs are temporary, 15% of those in work are on part-time contracts against their wishes, and 47% of full-time employed workers earn less than €1,000 a month.
The UGT and CCOO, among the thousands of participants in each of the 73 protests, called for wages that allow workers not just to survive, but to spend money on non-essentials, since companies are suffering due to the public's lack of spending power which, in turn, reduces tax income and threatens jobs.
Politicians who joined in the Madrid branch of the demonstration included Pablo Iglesias of Podemos and leader of United Left, Alberto Garzón.
They have been campaigning hard for the eradication of the labour reform, which they consider has been implemented to create a 'race to the bottom' – lower wages and ease of staff turnover to make Spain more competitive, or 'low-cost', at the expense of workers' lives and quality.
Critics of the labour reform say that although it helps genuine companies who have tried hard but have been left with no choice but to cut jobs or shut down – removing much of the red tape and legal hurdles involved – it mainly benefits more abusive employers who want to avoid workers having any rights through length of service by simply firing them at the end of a contract of a few months, paying them the minimum wage, and creating a 'fear' culture caused by the ease with which they have the power to sack staff.
Recent studies show that over 60% of employees still go to work when they are feeling ill because they are frightened of losing their jobs if they do not.
The labour reform has also attempted to block collective negotiation through unions, who are required to be consulted if any unilateral changes for the worse to employees' conditions or pay are to be imposed.
But according to the UGT's secretary-general Pepe Álvarez, many companies are now seeing profits of the levels they enjoyed back in 2008, before the financial crisis truly broke out, and yet wages have not increased in line with this rise in takings.
Even economy minister Luis de Guindos has urged companies to increase salaries on the basis that the country's financial situation has improved, and workers should not now be earning wages consistent with 'a country on the edge of recession'.
This said, he has only increased his own civil servants' salaries by 1%.
The European Union has ordered member States to up minimum wages to 60% of the average national wage, and Spain has started on this path with an expected increase to €750 in 2018 and €950 by 2020.
Taking the mean average of wages in Spain, the figure comes out at around €22,000 before tax, or typically €1,600 a month net take-home, but this is skewed by extreme outlying figures with bank bosses and company chairs earning, according to recently-released figures, up to 30 times their employees' wages.
Much of the unemployment problem, combined with lack of job security, low wages and poor conditions is due to Spain's heavy reliance upon tourism which is, by nature, seasonal; high levels of centralisation in major industries, including services, and a large proportion of secure and well-paid jobs being public-sector linked with restrictive and even arcane entry requirements, even when they are, by nature, positions requiring low qualifications and experience.
The unions, however, hope their voices will be heard once and for all now that government decisions are no longer in the hands of one single party, given that the right-wing PP is now in a minority and the opposition is mostly left or centre-left.
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DEMONSTRATIONS in 73 towns and cities across the country to mark 'Labour Day' called for stable employment, liveable wages and an end to work reforms which make it easier and cheaper for companies to sack staff.
“No excuses. Onto the streets,” was the slogan of Spain's two main unions, the labourers' commission (CCOO) and general workers' union (UGT).
They recalled that unemployment has risen again since January, that nine in 10 new jobs are temporary, 15% of those in work are on part-time contracts against their wishes, and 47% of full-time employed workers earn less than €1,000 a month.
The UGT and CCOO, among the thousands of participants in each of the 73 protests, called for wages that allow workers not just to survive, but to spend money on non-essentials, since companies are suffering due to the public's lack of spending power which, in turn, reduces tax income and threatens jobs.
Politicians who joined in the Madrid branch of the demonstration included Pablo Iglesias of Podemos and leader of United Left, Alberto Garzón.
They have been campaigning hard for the eradication of the labour reform, which they consider has been implemented to create a 'race to the bottom' – lower wages and ease of staff turnover to make Spain more competitive, or 'low-cost', at the expense of workers' lives and quality.
Critics of the labour reform say that although it helps genuine companies who have tried hard but have been left with no choice but to cut jobs or shut down – removing much of the red tape and legal hurdles involved – it mainly benefits more abusive employers who want to avoid workers having any rights through length of service by simply firing them at the end of a contract of a few months, paying them the minimum wage, and creating a 'fear' culture caused by the ease with which they have the power to sack staff.
Recent studies show that over 60% of employees still go to work when they are feeling ill because they are frightened of losing their jobs if they do not.
The labour reform has also attempted to block collective negotiation through unions, who are required to be consulted if any unilateral changes for the worse to employees' conditions or pay are to be imposed.
But according to the UGT's secretary-general Pepe Álvarez, many companies are now seeing profits of the levels they enjoyed back in 2008, before the financial crisis truly broke out, and yet wages have not increased in line with this rise in takings.
Even economy minister Luis de Guindos has urged companies to increase salaries on the basis that the country's financial situation has improved, and workers should not now be earning wages consistent with 'a country on the edge of recession'.
This said, he has only increased his own civil servants' salaries by 1%.
The European Union has ordered member States to up minimum wages to 60% of the average national wage, and Spain has started on this path with an expected increase to €750 in 2018 and €950 by 2020.
Taking the mean average of wages in Spain, the figure comes out at around €22,000 before tax, or typically €1,600 a month net take-home, but this is skewed by extreme outlying figures with bank bosses and company chairs earning, according to recently-released figures, up to 30 times their employees' wages.
Much of the unemployment problem, combined with lack of job security, low wages and poor conditions is due to Spain's heavy reliance upon tourism which is, by nature, seasonal; high levels of centralisation in major industries, including services, and a large proportion of secure and well-paid jobs being public-sector linked with restrictive and even arcane entry requirements, even when they are, by nature, positions requiring low qualifications and experience.
The unions, however, hope their voices will be heard once and for all now that government decisions are no longer in the hands of one single party, given that the right-wing PP is now in a minority and the opposition is mostly left or centre-left.
Related Topics
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