Editor’s note: This article was first published in September 2010, as an opinion piece while Spain’s labor reform was going through parliament. The reform was enacted as Law 35/2010 in mid-September 2010, unions held a general strike on 29 September 2010, and Spain passed further labor reforms in 2012 and 2021.
With the new labor reform in the middle of being approved, there are plenty of doubts about its benefits, since it seems that “they’re trying to feed the company with the worker’s own food.” After analyzing the points and changes it will bring over and over again, I still can’t see how this new reform can create more jobs, or at least more decent jobs with better working conditions.
Right now this isn’t about being left or right, because either of our two main political parties would have carried out this reform (make no mistake about that). In my view, these are desperate “temporary” measures to try to revive Spain’s economy by favoring employers and taking certain rights away from workers.
If you’re looking for a job and still weren’t sure where this reform leads, now is probably the best time to start your own business.
According to the unions, there is still time to stop it.
Featured image: Gallowolf, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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