MADRID, 1 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The general secretaries of UGT, Pepe Álvarez, and CCOO, Unai Sordo, have demanded this Wednesday a “decent democracy” during the May Day demonstration in Madrid and have pointed out the reduction of working hours and full employment as major demands .
The May 1 mobilization in Madrid was attended by 10,000 people, according to the Government Delegation, and 120,000, according to union figures. Among those attending were the three vice presidents of the Government and up to six ministers, along with different socialist leaders.
UGT and CCOO have come out this May 1st in Madrid in a mobilization under the motto ‘For full employment: less working hours, better salaries’, which has been accompanied by more than 70 mobilizations throughout Spain, in a day that It started a few minutes after 12:00 in the morning, from Gran Vía, and ended in Plaza España around 2:20 p.m., where Sordo and Álvarez presented their demands.
For Álvarez, this May 1 is about showing that “it is worth it” and to ask in the streets for a “decent democracy”, after the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced a five-day day of reflection a week ago. week to decide whether or not to continue in the Moncloa.
“A dirty war is never useful in democracy, it can never be exercised by the public powers. Therefore, this gesture, this stop, these five days of reflection by the president have to be for the entire country to demand in-depth changes. We want a decent democracy,” Álvarez has claimed, while emphasizing that the streets throughout Spain have been filled this May 1st so that “the extreme right will rage.”
For his part, Sordo has stated that a “toxic debate” that threatens to confront society cannot be allowed and has asked to seek “mainstreaming”, but not at the cost of not assuming “political legitimacy.” “That is the underlying problem, that there are those here who have not assumed the legitimacy of the democratic results in Spain,” he reiterated.
In relation to full employment, Sordo has insisted that “it is possible” to achieve this full employment, but, to do so, he has indicated that wealth must be “redistributed.”
“There is money to boost investment. Companies in Spain complain what they complain, but they are recording the highest profits, the largest business surpluses in history. 20% of the most important companies in this country are in record profits and in record surpluses”, he explained.
For this reason, he has asked to use public resources for this productive investment, but with the guarantee of long-term investment by private companies. “It is no longer time for public-private collaboration, the kind that seeks to put in the profit and loss accounts of parasitic companies,” he stressed.
Likewise, Sordo and Álvarez have called for the reduction of the working day, which is being negotiated with the Government and the CEOE to bring it to 37.5 hours without salary reduction by 2025. However, Álvarez has pointed out that the 37 .5 hours are “the way” towards a 32-hour weekly work day.
“We want to work less to live better and if they get upset, worse for them,” stressed Álvarez, who insisted that this reduction should be made above all for the most vulnerable workers, since, “where there are no unions, there has been no been able to reduce working time through collective agreements”.
For Sordo, the working day must be “at least” 37.5 hours, but the working conditions of the most vulnerable workers must also be improved, working time and its distribution must be controlled, because “the agreement establishes what you want to put in and in reality if it is not fulfilled, it is not worth much.
Likewise, both union leaders have spoken out about the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary and have asked the Government and the parliamentary majority “to move forward” because “judges do not elect judges.” “It is not a petanque club where the members of the petanque club elect the president and the manager among themselves,” Álvarez explained.
On the other hand, during the demonstration, the general secretaries of UGT Madrid, Marina Prieto, and CCOO Madrid, Paloma López, have accused the Madrid City Council, chaired by José Luis Almeida, of trying to “boycott” it by making the installation of everything they needed to develop concentration, which started a few minutes later than expected for this reason.
