UGT FICA has qualified as a "very positive" advance that the new Spanish Strategy for Industry and Strategic Autonomy incorporates a specific ecosystem for sustainable construction and habitat, understanding that this activity is "intrinsic" to the industry and plays an essential role in territorial cohesion and access to housing.
At the same time, the federation has expressed concern about the lack of definition of the measures related to employment, lamenting that the Ministry's document does not place greater emphasis on the quality of jobs or on the training and requalification necessary for workers in the sector.
These considerations have been made public following UGT FICA's participation in the second meeting of the High-Level Forum of the Spanish Industry, the public-private governance space promoted by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism where the Government, unions, and business organizations define the main lines of national industrial policy.
Training and territorial cohesion
The union has emphasized that construction must play a decisive role in the structuring of the territory through the execution of infrastructures and the promotion of housing, which would help to strengthen the weight of the industry in the different autonomous communities.
In this context, UGT FICA considers the methodology of the Strategy appropriate, focusing on transversal missions and value chains and leaving behind the classic sectoral approach. However, it has warned that it is essential to keep in mind the specificities of each activity in order to correctly address their concrete demands.
Call for political responsibility
The union organization has also pointed out that the Strategy must be supported by a predictable and lasting regulatory framework. In this sense, it has criticized that the Law on Industry and Strategic Autonomy remains "stuck" in its processing in Parliament and has directly called on political forces to lift the vetoes that block it.
"It is necessary to advance in the parliamentary process to allow for a frank and calm debate on the measures required by the industry in our country," they conclude from the organization.