Pepe Álvarez (UGT) incites the open war in the Government for the reduction of working hours and demands that the Corps “speak with knowledge of the facts”

The secretary general of the General Union of Workers (UGT) enters fully into the open war within the Government for the reduction of the working day. At a press conference held this morning in Madrid, Pepe Alvarez has been visibly upset by the debate that has been generated around the agreement reached with the Ministry of Labor at the end of December and has stated that the union is going to be “ruthless with the undocumented that talk about the matter”.

In this sense, the leader of UGT has denied the main argument that the Ministry of Economy is using about the impact of reducing the working day to 37.5 hours per week: that it will especially affect small and medium-sized companies and that, therefore , it is necessary to start a support plan to cushion the economic effects of the measure.

Álvarez has denied the biggest: “We must stop talking about significant impact on small businesses”has ruled, arguing that even sectors such as the hospitality industry already have working hours below the legal maximum of 40 hours per week in some provinces.

Immediately afterwards, he asked that the issue be addressed “with a minimum of intelligence” and “knowledge” and then – although without directly quoting the Minister of Economy – he called on “all members of the Government that when they speak about this issue they do so with knowledge of the facts and do not join the easy messages.

Already during the round of questions and asked directly about the blockade of this measure that the second vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, is denouncing by Carlos BodyÁlvarez has stressed that “some arguments from members of the Government are very close to the arguments of Cepyme and some businessmen who have always been distinguished by absolute immobility.”

In defense of the agreement signed on December 20 together with CCOO and against the interference of the Ministry of Economy on this issue, the general secretary of UGT has assured that they negotiate “with the Government” and that their “The interlocutor is the Ministry of Labor as long as the President of the Government does not say otherwise.” “We have signed an agreement with the Ministry of Labor,” the union leader insisted.

In this way, it has closed the door to a possible negotiation with the Ministry of Economy. “We are going to demand that the signed agreement be fulfilled and we are going to generate public conditions to refute the arguments that, from our point of view, are fallacious, hoaxes or lack of knowledge about the effects of reducing working time,” has concluded, to advance that the union will continue with its round of political contacts to try to ensure the parliamentary processing of the norm.

Given the insistence of questions from journalists about the Economy’s blockade of the regulation landing in the Council of Ministers that Díaz is denouncing – but which official sources from Carlos Corp’s department have denied – Álvarez has stated that the agreement must go to Council “as soon as possible”, once “the prior procedures that a legislative change of these characteristics has to go through” are passed.

At the same time, he has avoided entering into the disqualifications launched by the Minister of Labor about Carlos Corpus, whom he accused of being a “bad person”, and has stated that he is the Minister of Economy with whom he has spoken the most “in history.” “. Even so, he has stressed that he does not agree with recovering in the bill the aid to SMEs that the minister defends because they fell out of the agreement, although he has left the door open for modifications to be incorporated into the rule during the parliamentary process. .