Spain’s Congress on Wednesday dealt a setback to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, rejecting his government’s flagship proposal to cut the standard working week from 40 to 37.5 hours.
The defeat comes at a difficult moment for Sánchez’s left-wing coalition, which has been under mounting strain due to corruption probes targeting both the prime minister and some of his closest associates.
With no outright majority, Sánchez’s socialist PSOE-led government has had to depend on smaller regional groups to push through legislation, including Junts per Catalunya (JxCat), one of the pro-independence Catalan parties.
The measure, introduced by Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz (main image) of the left-wing Sumar party, was voted down by 178 votes to 170, after JxCat voted with the opposition groups, the right-wing People’s Party (PP) and far-right Vox group. ALSO READ: Draft bill to reduce Spain’s working week to 37.5 hours gets cabinet approval.
The loss coincided with Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, appearing before a court earlier in the day to deny allegations of misusing public funds in an embezzlement inquiry that has unsettled the government. ALSO READ: Begoña Gómez, wife of Spain’s PM, denies embezzlement in new court hearing.
Because public sector staff and most employees in large companies already enjoy a 37.5-hour week, the reform would have mainly impacted private-sector workers, particularly in agriculture, retail and hospitality.
Government estimates suggested that more than 12 million employees would have seen their hours reduced under the law.
The country’s two major unions, UGT and CCOO, had strongly supported the reform and organised demonstrations outside Congress during the vote. Employer associations, however, were firmly opposed.
This is the second major legislative defeat for Sánchez’s administration in recent months: in mid-July, MPs blocked a package of measures aimed at preventing a repeat of the widespread blackouts that hit the Iberian peninsula in late April. ALSO READ: Spanish MPs reject bill designed to prevent another major power outage.
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