Spanish minister defends labour reforms
Monday, February 13, 2012 @ 2:04 PM
Spanish Labour Minister Fatima Banez defended the conservative government's labour reforms on Sunday after unions called for mass protests over the measures, which they say will destroy jobs.
"These are reforms that will increase flexibility so that, faced with difficulties, businesses can adapt to the economic reality and so that lay-offs can be a measure of last resort," she said in an interview with the ABC daily.
"Obviously, the rights of workers will remain intact," she said, adding that she hoped the reforms would put the brakes on the "haemorrhaging" labour market.
The interview came a day after Spain's two biggest unions called for nationwide protests on February 19 to protest the reforms that they say will destroy jobs.
Spain's conservative government on Friday slashed employees' maximum severance pay as part of sweeping labour reforms to confront a jobless rate of nearly 23 percent. Youth unemployment stands at nearly 50 percent.
Read more at Google News