PSOE and Sumar agree to reduce working hours and close an agreement to form a Government

PSOE and Sumar have formalized the Government's programmatic agreement after it was practically closed yesterday in a meeting held between Sánchez and the leader of Sumar and second vice president of the Government, Yolanda Díaz. Both will ratify this agreement in a public event at 12:30 p.m. in which they will give more details of the pact, they report in a statement, which includes "ambitious advances" in labor matters such as the reduction of working hours without a salary reduction and to implement it immediately. a shock plan against youth unemployment.

The content of the agreement is programmatic - it describes the lines of action of a new Executive - and does not contemplate aspects such as the structure that the Government would have or the distribution of portfolios, issues that will be addressed later.

Along these lines, PSOE and Sumar point out that the objective of full employment will be a priority while "ambitious advances" in labor matters will be processed, such as the reduction of working hours without a salary reduction, an aspect on which yesterday the first vice president of the Government and acting Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, put it second on the list of priorities yesterday after "ending unemployment and achieving full effective employment."

The position on the working day has been the main obstacle that they maintained in completing the agreement, negotiation sources told Europa Press last night, a requirement established by Susana Díaz, who proposed last June to reduce the working day from 40 to 37. 5 hours per week already in 2024 and continue progressively lowering it to 32 hours per week, although this specific proposal has not been specified in the advance of the programmatic agreement.

Sumar has reported that to these matters included in the joint statement is added the repeal of the gag law, the reform of territorial financing, the development of the housing law to regulate rents, the increase in the minimum wage so that Don't lose purchasing power and a care law.

The pact ensures a legislature for four years, both parties assure, and will allow Spain "to continue growing sustainably and with quality employment, developing policies based on social and climate justice, and expanding rights, feminist achievements and freedoms."

The plan also includes the implementation of a shock plan against youth unemployment and the reinforcement of public health that contemplates the reduction of waiting lists, the increase in the public housing stock until it reaches 20% of the total housing stock , the upward revision of the objectives of the Climate Change Law, the expansion of paid birth permits and the universalization of education from 0 to 3 years, at the end of the legislature.

Other advanced measures that will be expanded starting at 12:30 are to carry out a "fair" tax reform that makes banks and large energy companies contribute to public spending.

"This is a response to the clear message that citizens sent in the elections of July 23: the rejection of a government of the right and the extreme right in Spain, and the mandate to continue advancing in rights and freedoms."

PSOE and Sumar aspired to complete the agreement before the end of October, and the agendas of Sánchez and Díaz forced the negotiation to be accelerated. Sánchez has a deadline of November 27 to be inaugurated, since, if he does not succeed, general elections will be called to be held on January 14.

Once this programmatic agreement has been reached, now the bodies of the PSOE and the militants must endorse the pact whose negotiations have been led by the Minister of Finance and Deputy Secretary General of the PSOE, María Jesús Montero, and the Secretary of State for Social Rights, Nacho Álvarez , representing Sumar. Sánchez must now obtain the support of other parties, which includes the support of the Catalan independentists with the amnesty at the center of those talks.

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