The Government is finalizing a package to respond to the economic and social impact of the conflict in the Middle East that it plans to approve in next week's Council of Ministers, with the activation of already existing mechanisms such as ERTEs and new labor and social measures, according to the Second Vice President and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz.
Díaz has asked for “calm” to citizens and has assured that the Executive is already working on a response to face the economic and social consequences of the conflict in the Middle East. The minister has indicated, in statements to TVE collected by Europa Press, that the package will arrive at the Council of Ministers next week.
In the labor field, he/she has stressed that a good part of the instruments are already included in Spanish legislation. Among them, he/she has cited ERTEs and the RED Mechanism, which, as he/she has remarked, can already be activated. Furthermore, he/she has pointed out that the Government is studying “probably” prohibiting dismissals “due to energy causes”, as already happened in previous crises.
Díaz asks companies and self-employed not to fire
The vice president has also sent a direct message to companies and self-employed individuals not to resort to layoffs. She has argued that Spain already has sufficient tools to support the productive fabric without destroying jobs and has insisted that the labor mechanisms in force allow cushioning the economic blow.
The priority, he has said, involves controlling the price of energy, preventing job destruction, and deploying social protection measures for families and workers.
The Executive is studying to freeze rents and halt evictions
Díaz has also explained that the Minister of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, Pablo Bustinduy, is working on freezing rents and evictions, while the Ministry of Finance is considering intervening in the taxation of diesel and gasoline to alleviate the costs for families and the most affected productive sectors.
The minister added that the Executive also wants to anticipate mobility plans included in the Sustainable Mobility law, not yet approved, to favor collective transport in companies given the rising cost of gasoline and diesel.
Sumar and PSOE maintain discrepancies on the freezing of rents
Díaz has assured that the Government's response will be “calm”, “exhaustive” and practically daily, and has indicated that the measures will come into force once they are published in the Official State Gazette. She has also stated that social agents and the Executive know “what we have to do” to manage this crisis.
Nevertheless, the vice president has recognized that there are discrepancies between PSOE and Sumar about one of the measures under study: the freezing of rents.