Asaja Castilla-La Mancha has requested an action protocol that interprets the labor reform with regard to contracts for workers in the agricultural sector, since, in full contracting of the first campaigns, such as that of garlic, the National Administration did not has just clarified what type of contracts are adjusted to the sector.
As explained by the agrarian organization, the labor reform does not respond to the needs of the countryside, but to the measures proposed in the social dialogue between trade unions and employers’ organizations, imposed by the National Government, to meet the demands committed to the European Union within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, which is the plan developed by the Spanish Administration as an obligation for the management of Next Generation funds in the 2021-2023 period, as reflected in the preamble of the Royal Decree Law 32/2021 of December 28, on urgent measures for labor reform.
This has been transferred by the general secretary of Asaja Castilla-La Mancha, José María Fresneda, to the Government delegate in the region, Francisco Tierraseca, at the meeting held in Toledo, in which the members of the Regional Executive Committee of the organization, Blanca Corroto and Agustín Miranda, and the head of labor relations at Asaja Cuenca, Ángel Fuente.
In this sense, Asaja CLM has put on the table the casuistry of the agricultural sector, such as the eventuality or the origin of the workers, since, despite the multiple meetings held in the different provinces with those responsible for the competent administrations, still It has not been clarified how to proceed correctly so that agrarian entrepreneurs can comply with the law without exposing themselves to a sanction and ending up in a judicial process, according to what the organization has informed in a press release.
In this way, according to Asaja, the Secretary of State for Employment, Joaquín Perez Rey, confirmed weeks ago in Toledo that the new Law was designed to respond to the labor needs of farmers and that this was a concern from the start. beginning, adding “that, with the fixed-term contract with the 90-day formula, a large part of the agricultural campaigns in the region find adequate coverage”. On the other hand, the labor inspections opt for being permanent-discontinuous workers, because they have not received any information from the Ministry regarding their interpretation, as they transfer to the agrarian organization.
In fact, as Asaja CLM has warned, the hiring for the garlic campaign has already begun and it will be the pilot project of a “hasty” law that, this first year of validity, given “the lack of political will” for its correct application, will end up being interpreted by the judges when the sanctions begin.
On the other hand, the organization has explained the convenience of promoting collective agreements in the field as a way of resolving the problems of the sector between the parties involved, but the “interference” of the Government in the collective negotiations “has left their work nullified and the trust placed in this tool for many years”. This is due –says the organization– to the fact that, in many of the provincial collective agreements, more than 60% of its articles have been annulled, which will cause the need to restructure it from the beginning and it will be a task of many years and work until confidence between the parties is restored.
Finally, the agrarian organization has asked the Government delegate to transfer the concern of the sector, but has added that this law, although it ends with the so-called “possible false” to which Government sources refer, will cause an increase in ” false fixed prices”, which will have to be explained to the community authorities but, above all, it will increase labor costs that farmers will not be able to later pass on to the prices of their products.
