The leader of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, is very concerned about the new crisis caused by energy costs and the war in Ukraine, which is putting the economy of families and the viability of many businesses on the ropes. However, he does not doubt that Spanish companies are prepared for this new blow. Of course, he warns the Government that it must act quickly, forcefully and rigorously to face this wave of inflation and prevent it from becoming structural. He also points out that all pensions cannot be raised at once by 7.5%.
– We go from crisis to crisis, from a pandemic to a volcano and to a war. Is Spain prepared to resist?
– We have to be prepared, reality is what rules. We are in a difficult time, but Spanish companies are prepared, although many are having a hard time, especially SMEs.
– During the pandemic there seemed to be a certain connection with the Government. Is this idyll over?
– It is neither idyll nor lack of love. We say at all times what we have to say, what touches. We have had to negotiate many agreements, we have negotiated very hard. When we can agree, we agree. And when we think that it is not good for the country, logically we have to say no. And it is true that at this time there have been some things that have happened that we have not liked and we have said so openly.
– In a harsh statement they demanded from the Government “quick, concrete and effective actions” in the face of this crisis. Are the ones you have taken useful?
– There are a series of decisions that had to be taken before. We miss much faster action. And then there are issues that we cannot share. It does not make much sense that the labor reform has been approved with a social agreement and, a few days before it comes into force, the minister changes everything that has been negotiated regarding the ERTE. In the labor reform, it was negotiated that in the ERTE, in case of dismissal, the exemption is returned for each person. We do not understand how suddenly, unilaterally and without warning, they put this to you or tell you that the objective dismissal has disappeared for a reason. And we cannot share the interference in the rental issue either, because we think it goes against private property. Nor can we understand how the gas stations, especially the small ones, have been suffocated by having to advance issues that belong to the State.
– Can these requirements prevent many companies from benefiting from these aids?
– Of course. We are warning. We want you to know what it means. But we cannot share that the labor reform, one day before coming into force, is changed by Royal Decree. Then they tell you that you have to have empathy.
question of empathy
– I perceive some resentment for that comment by Vice President Yolanda Díaz about her lack of empathy.
– It’s not that it bothers me, but we have empathy creating jobs. That is true empathy. And moving the company forward. Saying ‘no, this is how it is’ is not knowing the market or knowing the economy.
– Did the Government act late in the carrier strike?
– It could have been stopped earlier. We think that the State security forces were not given the order to act when they should have acted. A lot of damage has been done to the country. It has affected the industry brutally. The damage is incalculable.
– The Bank of Spain has again cut its growth forecast and raised inflation. Are we still under the threat of a great economic and social crisis as they warned?
– We agree on the diagnosis regarding the slowdown in activity. In this scenario of deteriorating activity, we have to be very careful to see how we are able to reduce inflation, and this is why labor costs cannot follow that path of inflation, because then we would ensure that what may be conjunctural become structural.
Inflation
“If pensions rise suddenly by 7.5%, they ruin us”
– And what are your recipes?
– There are State efficiency margins of around 60,000 million. There are also another 50,000 or 60,000 who would be fighting the underground economy. And we would change tax policy. Anything plus taxes would be a mistake; Another very clear measure is a tax cut. And of course, all the administrative part of procedures. You have to let companies flow and work.
– Do you fear a rebound in the ERTE?
– Let’s see it, because I don’t know if we are already in an ERTE or closure situation. What is certain is that there are companies that are having a very bad time. But an ERTE that still made sense in the covid, maybe not now.
– Employment is behaving much more solidly than expected. Are we facing a paradigm shift?
– I don’t like to say that everything is going terrible or that everything is going great. We come from covid, we have the effects of the immediate labor reform. You still have to be quite cautious. In two or three months we will really see that evolution. I’m not saying it’s going bad, but if we don’t do it right it could get worse.
Labor reform and success
– And what must be done to do it well?
– Budgetary rigor, economic orthodoxy, efficiency… What we do in companies, try to do it in the State.
– Permanent contracting has skyrocketed. Can it be said that the reform is a success?
– The labor reform is good, because it is agreed upon and because it maintains the essence of what the 2012 labor reform was.
Pact with Sanchez
«With the Government there is no idyll or lack of love. The 15 pacts were more than necessary»
– The president of ATA, Lorenzo Amor, asks for “a solution” to the penalty for contracts for days before the fair season. Do you agree?
– I want it to be clear: this is a Social Security imposition that we have not shared at any time. She jumped in. It is a provision that enters the reform to collect. It has little to do with a law. As soon as another government arrives, we are going to ask them to change it.
– The Government wants an income pact. Do you see it possible?
– The rental agreement has to be explained to me. Politically it sounds very good, but we are here to manage what is ours. And ours is called a collective bargaining agreement.
– The CEOE has rejected the latest salary increase proposal from the unions. Do you think it is still feasible to reach an agreement?
– It is true that the last proposal of the unions has been rejected. We have been saying since the beginning of the negotiation that indexing wages would be a mistake. But we have made an alternative proposal, which is already known and which we trust can be agreed upon.
Red lines
– Are salary guarantee clauses a red line?
– As they are being considered now, of course, we do not share them because that is indexing inflation.
– The Government promises that the revaluation of pensions will be fulfilled, whatever the inflation. Do you share it?
– We ask the Government for a very clear sustainability clause. They will have to explain it to us. The same are the minimum pensions, because if it is to revalue them all at once to 7.5%, the hole that there is going to be in Spain is 10,000 or 12,000 million more. They will have to explain it to us. Because what do they want? What companies pay for that? Then they ruin us all. Companies in Spain already pay 30% more for Social Security than the rest of Europe. If not, it’s more debt.
– Would you sign each and every one of the fifteen agreements that you have agreed with the Government?
– The fifteen agreements have been more than necessary, they were super-necessary. And, above all, they have given important social peace.
– A critical wing has emerged in the CEOE. Are you worried?
– There is absolutely no problem. I don’t see or detect it. I feel fully supported.