Gabriel Rufián, spokesperson for ERC in Spain’s Congress, said on Wednesday that the country’s labor reform “was good,” pointing to the number of people working. His assessment contrasts with ERC’s vote against the legislation in February 2022 and his own criticism of the measure at the time.
Asked about the general strike scheduled for the 11th, Rufián said he supported labor demands but added that precarious work remained widespread and that workers could still be dismissed abusively at very low cost. He made the comments outside Madrid’s Ateneo.
ERC was among the parties that voted against the reform, which had been agreed with unions and employers. The measure passed by a single vote after PP lawmaker Alberto Casero mistakenly voted in favor while voting remotely.
In 2022, Rufián called the legislation “make-up” rather than a genuine reform and described it as a personal project of then Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz. He objected to the government’s negotiations, particularly its insistence on including the employers’ association CEOE, and said ERC had not been consulted adequately.
Rufián also argued that the law did not go far enough on dismissal compensation, labor inspections, back pay during dismissal proceedings, abusive collective layoffs, precarious contracts and the priority of regional collective agreements. During the parliamentary debate, he called the process one of “imposition” and said the reform was exactly what he believed Albert Rivera would have negotiated and approved had he been vice-president.
Sources: elDiario.es.