Shorter working week

Calls for shorter working.

MDB Digital06/01/2025 10:21

A split in Spain's left-wing coalition government over a plan to implement a shorter working week with the same pay broke into the open over the weekend after the country's labour minister accused the economy minister of "siding with employers".

Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz, who leads the far-left Sumar party, told state radio broadcaster RNE there were "manifest disagreements" with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialist Party over the plan, and appealed to colleagues to "respect the committee of experts" that drew it up.

She took aim at Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo, who suggested the plan should be delayed by a year to give small businesses time to adapt.

Cuerpo "must decide on whose side he is on, that of the workers of this country who ask to live a bit better, or that of employers," she said.

A source at Spain's economy ministry said the government remained committed to the plan and implementing it was "a priority".