Social dialogue agenda seeks to address economic crisis

The government has announced a package of measures to help revitalise the Spanish economy. Although the social partners have welcomed some of the proposals, such as efforts to increase companies’ liquidity, they are still divided over certain issues – including the provisions for protection against dismissal. Given the current economic crisis, the employers are calling for more radical measures, such as increased flexibility and less costly dismissal provisions.

On 29 July 2008, the government and social partners agreed on a ‘Declaration of principles for the promotion of the economy, employment, competitiveness and social progress’, which sets out the social dialogue agenda for the coming years. The social partners involved were the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organisations (Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales, CEOE) and the Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Confederación Española de Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas, CEPYME) on the employer side, together with the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras, CC.OO) and the General Workers’ Confederation (Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT) on the trade union side. The declaration provides for a continuation of the social dialogue process initiated under the previous government (ES0408101F); however, a significant difference is that the current period is marked by challenges arising from the economic recession.

Consensus on challenges and objectives of social dialogue

The signatories agree with the government’s diagnosis, which recognises the seriousness of the impact of the economic crisis on business activity and employment. They also concur that the crisis in the Spanish economy, caused by an adjustment in the construction sector, has been exacerbated by external factors – in particular, the international financial crisis and the price of oil, which have resulted in inflationary pressures and the tightening of credit conditions for companies.

Among the challenges identified for addressing the current situation are the priority issue of employment and the need to move towards a more balanced pattern of growth and development, based on improving labour productivity and business competitiveness. The government is committed to boosting economic policy measures geared towards this objective in areas such as infrastructure and education.

The government declaration outlines the progress that has been made in the previous legislature in various fields. These include the Agreement for the improvement of growth and employment (ES0605019I), the Framework Law for effective equality between men and women (in Spanish) (ES0704019I, ES0805019I) and the Agreement on social security measures (ES0712019I). The signatories expressed their willingness to further develop these agreements and to address other important issues arising from the current situation; such issues include those governing the operation of public employment services and the employment protection system, with regard to both active policies and unemployment benefit. The real significance of the declaration will depend on the specific agreements which the employers and trade unions are able to reach during the present government’s term of office on more contentious issues, such as the protection of workers against dismissal.

Main government proposals

Some of the government’s measures were presented to the social partners and the public barely a month before the declaration was signed. The package includes measures which aim to increase the liquidity of companies through the extension of sources of finance from the Official Credit Institute (Instituto de Crédito Oficial, ICO) and the financing of protected housing construction to a total value of €35 billion between 2009 and 2010.

In terms of other structural measures, the government also plans to:

• develop a proposal for reforming the vocational training system, with the aim of promoting continuous training and integrating state-regulated training and informal learning on the job – this recognises the importance of work experience and accreditation for facilitating the mobility of workers and lifelong learning;

• liberalise and increase rail freight transport – this involves divesting the goods area of the public operator Spanish Rail (RENFE) and liberalising the provision of auxiliary goods transport services;

• adopt measures for the restructuring of the public airport management operator, Spanish Airports and Air Navigation (Aeropuertos Espanoles y Navegación Aérea, AENA), which will lead to the entry of private capital and the involvement of the autonomous communities in airport management;

• introduce a new law on ports, in order to promote competition among Spanish ports and in the provision of auxiliary services within them;

• reform the services sector based on an ambitious transposition of European Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market, known as the services directive – the government is committed to introducing a bill that will boost the sector and improve its productivity, which has declined in recent years.

Position of social partners

Both the employer organisations and trade unions have welcomed the measures seeking to facilitate the liquidity of companies, recognising their importance for the maintenance of business and employment. However, CEOE, as the leading employer organisation at national level, believes that the measures are insufficient to deal with the current crisis and is calling for more exceptional measures – such as greater flexibility and less costly dismissal provisions.

The trade union confederations CC.OO and UGT have rejected such proposals. Moreover, their respective federations in the transport sector have already expressed their opposition to the government’s plans, which they see as a step towards privatisation of the public transport network.

Juan Arasanz Díaz, QUIT, University Autònoma of Barcelona (UAB)