Pepe Álvarez (68 years old, Belmonte de Miranda, Asturias), will be at the head of UGT for four more years in his third term. 80% of the delegates supported him this Tuesday at the Confederal Congress of the union in Barcelona, the city where the UGT was founded in 1888. Álvarez came to office in 2016, when he replaced Cándido Méndez, and after having been in charge for 26 years. front of UGT in Catalonia. He feels motivated to continue leading the organization in what he considers to be its best moment, and in the face of challenges such as pensions, the length of the working day or housing.
Ask. The employers have left the negotiation to reduce the working day. Can you be satisfied if there is no consensus?
Answer. No, of course not. We will be very satisfied if there is finally an agreement with the CEOE, but above all if the agreement is published in the BOE. What we cannot do is give anyone the power to veto. If it weren’t for the fact that I know them, I would think that the employers have acted in bad faith. Because we have been negotiating for more than a year, and it seemed that they were actually going to take the step. If we really want it to be approved in this legislature, we need eight months, and during this time we are going to meet with the leadership of the political parties, with [el presidente del PNV, Andoni] Ortuzar; with [el coordinador general de EH Bildu, Arnaldo] Otegi, or with [el presidente de Junts, Carles] Puigdemont… We know that the PNV would like us to reach an agreement with the CEOE, and in this period of parliamentary processing we are willing to talk to them.
P. And what will Junts vote for? Whether he reaches Congress will depend a lot on them.
R. We have not spoken to them, but we will meet shortly. We will explain to you to what extent this measure will affect more than 60% of Catalans. There is a positive impact, also for companies.
P. You have said that reducing the week to 37.5 hours is the first step to reach 32. Do you see it as feasible?
R. Yes, of course, at the moment the average working day agreed in the agreements in Spain is 38.2 hours. But there are sectors that have been left behind, by the way, they are those where union organizations have no weight. We cannot abandon them. The 32 hour goal is not crazy. In Germany and France they are below 35, in the Nordic countries they are close to 32, all of them more productive than Spain. To gain productivity, we have to raise salaries and lower working hours.
P. Many agreements are blocked by negotiation, and there is fear that this will also block the negotiation to raise the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI) again. How is the employer acting?
R. As always, with arguments from 1983, when the working day was established at 40 hours a week, or with those from 1888, when they were scandalized by paid vacations. They always say that the wolf is coming and in the end it doesn’t come, neither by raising the SMI nor by reducing the working day.
P. How much should the SMI grow? 2.6% like average inflation or 4% like the rest of salaries?
R. The two large union organizations have one objective: to grow between 5% and 6%. For a very simple reason: the real wage bill, not that of collective agreements, has increased this percentage. And, the CPI is no longer useful, it is an old indicator. It will move forward, but the Government has to position itself clearly. And the CEOE, which said that after last year’s increase the seven plagues of Egypt were going to come, sees that the Spanish economy continues to shine brighter than any of those in the European Union.
P. The data is good, but the unemployment rate. What are we doing wrong?
R. The Spanish economy is in very good condition. That does not mean that people are doing very well, but in the environment in which we operate, the growth of Spain is really important. That said, we have a high unemployment rate. What we have to address is people’s employability, make employment and training policies and be more effective. And then, we have more than half a million undocumented immigrants who must be given an opportunity to work. It’s not about regularizing, it’s about giving an opportunity.
P. On Monday he thanked the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. What conditions did he set?
R. They said that they were studying it and that they only had one condition, and that was that this part be alone, that it not be with a decree with more things. The pension agreement is signed by the CEOE, and has elements such as relief contracts or partial retirement for the self-employed, which I believe the PP should facilitate approval. And if not, let them explain it in Navarra, the Valencian Community, Andalusia, Catalonia… communities where the replacement contract would be a very powerful instrument to renew employment in industry and services.
P. Regarding another agreement reached with the employers and the Government, there have been many complaints. Wouldn’t it have been better to strengthen the public system?
R. Of course, that’s what I’m aiming for, but the point is that today in Spain, a person who has a work accident, if they go through the public health service, doubles or triples the recovery time compared to if they go through the mutual insurance companies. Absenteeism matters to me, but people’s health matters more to me. Mutual societies are parapublic non-profit organizations, because the benefits have to be delivered to Social Security, and they are underused. What is the disadvantage of us using them intensively, if they are also very technologically advanced?
P. We have known for months. Are you surprised that the Government has not launched the reform of the system?
R. Nothing surprises me because, like the CEOE, we have seen that it is better for jurisprudence to establish what needs to be done. And it is doing so: a few days ago a court in Castilla La Mancha sentenced a company to extra compensation. We have to wait to see the doctrine that the Supreme Court will finally establish. We don’t have a date, but I think the line it will take will be this.
P. Another important issue is, especially for young people. On Saturday in Barcelona. Would the union support it?
R. There were young and not so young people in the demonstrations. It is a clear and transparent expression of the great problem that Spain has. We will intensify the work in common with the associations and the Tenants’ Union, because we want to add, we have already done it in the past. But the issue has to enter any negotiation. What’s the point of raising the SMI if the rent more than eats it up? Regarding the rent strike, they have all the right in the world, it is a way of expressing this will. Housing has to stop being a speculative good and this is a way to denounce it. And public authorities have to intervene in rentals, and build or rehabilitate to have a public rental park.
P. What has encouraged you for a third term?
R. I have had many doubts. I am 68 years old and I am not an ageist, but I am aware that this weighs more on society than on my head. I am in an organization to which I owe everything, I have been active and working for many years. Collectively we have come to the conclusion that I am going to add, because we are at an optimal moment for unionism, we have grown 20% in delegates in the last four years. And at a time like this, I must not generate a debate in the union regarding people that could slow down this pace of growth.
P. You have asked Sánchez for more funding for social agents, why?
R. No more financing, they pay us what they owe us. The preparation of equality plans alone costs us more than 15 million euros, and the state subsidy for UGT in this is 6.1 million, 17 million for all unions. The same thing happens in collective bargaining: union members pay with their dues for the work to carry out the agreements of all workers, whether they are members or not. It’s not reasonable. There is a discourse that unions are subsidized, and it is a hoax. If we have done anything wrong, it is allowing this idea to exist that we live off the State.
