Two weeks remain to close an agreement between the employers and the unions and the Central Government to extend the temporary employment regulation files in the context of the pandemic. The General Union of Workers (UGT) is aligned with the proposals of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) that ask that ERTES can be applied to all sectors and not only in activities related to tourism. In a economic context in which analysts place in 2024 the date for the recovery of similar indices before March, your general secretary, Pepe Alvarez, visiting Tenerife has been optimistic about the future winter season in the Canary Islands.
In the Canary Islands there are 87,500 workers affected by a temporary employment regulation file. The unemployment lists add up to 257,406 people. Are we on the brink of an irreparable social gap?
It seems to me that above all, if we do not agree on the ertes, what we are losing is the opportunity to have the productive system in full shape and conditions so that, in a decline in the pandemic and the appearance of a vaccine, it can be put into operation the production system immediately. It seems to us that it is very important for the Canary Islands taking into account the tourist season of the islands. I hope we have the opportunity to overcome the situation and not be a blank season.
Some economic analyzes indicate that it would be necessary to wait until 2024 to recover the pre-pandemic indexes. Should it be taken for granted that many people affected by an injury will eventually join the unemployment rolls?
Not at all. The data tells us the opposite. Of almost 4 million that we have had, we are now at 800,000. I believe that we can hope that of the latter, a very important part and if we do it well, they can regain their job.
A moment from the interview with Pepe Álvarez, general secretary of UGT, for Cadena SER in the Canary Islands / Cadena SER
The tourism minister has announced a training plan for 70,000 people in the sector. It is part of the plan for the recovery of tourism during the winter period. Is it worth insisting on training plans of this type?
In any case, it seems to me that if the Government has the means and we have the opportunity for the people who are in erte to be able to train, it seems correct to me. It also seems correct to me that all the unemployed in the country are trained. What I would like is for Minister Reyes Maroto and the Government to tell us where they are going to get the resources to do so. They make so many promises that it seems they are reasonable things and we see so little resources that it generates frustration.
The bosses got up a little upset during the conversations with the Government and distrusted the Social Security figures regarding the costs they pose for the ertes. What do you think of the tension and the crossovers of statements between one and the other?
The Government has not given us enough data on how much it has cost and what it will cost until the end of the year. Nor have they told us what money we have to spend until the end of the year. There is an income from the European Union in the form of credit to face the ertes. I would like the employer’s association to focus with us on the essential issues: not to drop income from 70% to 50%, keep the income after 180 days without affecting income from unemployment and fixed people discontinuous’ that are left with nothing. Los ertes, due to a more than debatable interpretation of the Sepe, does not contribute for unemployment purposes. I would like the Government, which told us in the Balearic Islands that we were going to have 70%, open the possibility that other sectors not strictly tourist take advantage of the ertes … In the Canary Islands, anyone understands that trade is closely linked to tourism. Also transportation or any other activity because they all have a common link. If all this happens, I understand that the agreement can be given because it is essential for the future of Spain.
We are awaiting the transaction between CaixaBank and Bankia. Little is said about the readjustment of the templates. Are you afraid of losing thousands of jobs after the merger?
Insurance. The data show that there is a concurrence between the offices of the two entities. Experience tells us that it will lead to readjustment. We ask the two entities to think that Spain is in a very difficult pandemic situation, that Bankia has been rescued with the resources of the country’s citizens and the other partly as well. They must make the effort so that there is no readjustment and, if there has to be one, that it be with agreed measures. This operation has other elements that must be taken into account. We are staying with so few financial institutions that in the end the banks are the ones who are going to tell us what to do. Having a checking account in the bank is mandatory and you must have an accumulation that must be taken into account consumption. The entity should have a significant public participation.
You were saying before the formation of the Sánchez Government that an Executive should be formed that would not disappoint left-wing voters. Are you disappointed?
Not at all. I want to say it clearly. We are going to express our positions from the UGT so that the Government has them clear. In the current circumstances, we would hardly have had a government that was capable of meeting the needs of people like this, but a union cannot be formed. We have to think about people who have nothing, who have not received the Minimum Living Income since March. I think that we Spaniards are lucky to have a progressive government to face this crisis situation.
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