Spanish unions force government retreat

Action by the two main Spanish union confederations, CCOO and UGT, has forced the government to make major concessions on its plans to change the rules on unfair dismissal and payment to the unemployed.

Last month more than 200,000 trade unionists filled the streets of Madrid to demand changes, a follow-up action to the massively supported general strike in June. Within two days the government had agreed to abandon most of its controversial proposals.

The changes announced by labour minister Eduardo Zaplana mean that employers must again pay unfairly dismissed workers until their cases are heard. Rights have been restored on unemployment benefit for workers who regularly switch between periods of work and unemployment. And plans to make the unemployed accept a wider range of jobs have been reversed.

The only area where the government has not retreated is in the support provided to agricultural workers in the south of the country, where the government is sticking to its plan to wind up the scheme.

The general secretaries of both confederations, Jose Maria Fidalgo (CCOO) and Candido Mendez (UGT), have welcomed the measures as far as they go. They accept that they are "substantial modifications, not simply cosmetic". However, they are still pressing for the changes on support for agricultural workers also to be abandoned.