‘If you fall into the dialogue of the far-right, the far-right wins.’
Yolanda Díaz Pérez, deputy prime minister of Spain’s socialist government, delivered a message for Labour politicians in Britain ahead of their employment rights bill taking it next step to becoming law.
Since Spain introduced similar workers’ rights measures in 2022, companies’ use of temporary contracts have been significantly reduced without causing unemployment to rise. At the same time, the minimum wage has risen sharply.
Spain’s unemployment rate has dropped from 14 percent at the start of 2022 to 11 percent at the end of last year, though it is still more than twice the level of the UK.
Pérez recalls how her own government went through “nine months of hell” before similar workers’ rights law came into force in 2022.
“We had the press against it, academia, research centres – everybody was saying this was going to contribute to unemployment and not eradicate it,” she told the Guardian.
The deputy PM added that in just six months the impact was positive.
“The message that I send to your government, to the unions, to [businesses], is that it is worth doing things differently.”
The warning comes as business leaders issue warning about the impact of the workers’ rights plans.
Labour’s workers’ rights package includes a right to a contract with regular hours, a ban on ‘fire and rehire,’ and protection against unfair dismissal from day one of employment.
Similar to the Spanish reforms, the plans strengthen the negotiating power of trade unions, making it easier for them to gain recognition in workplaces, for example.
But the plans have been met with intense scrutiny by business groups, with business leaders issuing warnings about their potential impact.
Last week, Labour tabled amendments to the legislation, but these broadly strengthened the measures, rather than watering them down, much to the approval of unions.
Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “For decades, workers’ rights have been pushed down the agenda. This is the first time in a generation that workers’ rights have been taken seriously.”
The Unison general secretary, Christina McAnea, said huge improvements had been made to the bill and it was “what working people and decent employers have been waiting for.”
Díaz says she has discussed the workers’ reforms with the TUC’s general secretary, Paul Nowak, as well as the UK work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall. She has urged Labour to press ahead, especially in the face of the threat from the far right, which is happening across Europe.
“We need it more than ever. The extreme right is fighting trade unionism and trade negotiation power precisely because it knows how important it is,” she said.
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