Government admits labor reform decree still subject to negotiations

The Spanish government on Thursday said it was open to amendments to the decree on collective bargaining reforms it plans to approve on Friday, as opposition parties joined labor unions and business in rejecting the new draft legislation.

"The process of reform of collective bargaining doesn't end on Friday; it begins on Friday," Labor Minister Valeriano Gómez said as the Catalan center-right nationalist coalition CiU announced it would not support the decree, which has to be approved by Congress. CiU congressional spokesman Josep Antoni Duran Lleida said Thursday the proposed legislation presented by the government was "unbalanced" and "totally inadequate."

In remarks to radio station Cadena Cope, Duran Lleida said the document failed to address issues such as absenteeism and the need to link wage hikes to improvements in productivity.

Duran Lleida's criticism was in line with that of the CEOE, the country's main employers group. The CEOE railed against the draft decree's omission of effective measures allowing greater internal flexibility within companies.

"This is the boldest and deepest [reform] that has been taken on board in the democratic history of Spanish labor relations," Gómez said in response. The Socialist minister went on to say that the government was willing to listen to suggested changes to all aspects of the decree except one clause, which guarantees the automatic extension of agreements in the event of the failure to reach consensus on a renewal.

The government was forced to draw up the decree after the main labor unions, CCOO and UGT, broke off negotiations after months of talks with employers. The two sides had reached a series of partial verbal agreements, which formed the basis for the decree the government drew up.