Spain labour reform
Euro stumbles as Greece ups its brinkmanship
On Wednesday, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos accused German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble of more or less plotting to push Greece out of the euro, while Schaeuble in turn said he is tired of dumping money into a black hole. This has delayed the dispatch of the second Greek bailout, bringing Greece closer to the March deadline before it defaults. For me, the dispute raises an interesting point about who is to blame per se for this continuing Greece debacle. Reading around, it seems to me the EU is getting a bad rep here, with Germany especially being painted as a dictatorial monster. Is this the case? I mean - I concede that the EU is a bureaucratic nightmare, but is … [Read more...] about Euro stumbles as Greece ups its brinkmanship
Jobless in Spain: a personal viewpoint
In January of this year, I became one of Spain's five million unemployed. The redundancy in itself has not hurt me badly. I receive a decent monthly unemployment benefit (with entitlement for 16 months) and, on a personal level at least, must admit to being pleased that my husband is one of Spain's 2.5 million job-protected funcionarios. The circumstances surrounding my redundancy, though not atypical, were legally ambiguous. “Ambiguous” because I had been hired to work until the completion of an unspecified project (or 'Fin de Obra') under what remains to date the most common type of contract in Spain. As I was hired in 2009, more than two years prior to recent changes in … [Read more...] about Jobless in Spain: a personal viewpoint
Spain’s general strike: too much, too late
The statisticians may argue for some time to come about the success or otherwise of Spain’s general strike. To nobody’s surprise, the UGT and CCOO unions, which organised the country’s first nationwide strike in eight years, described the protest as an overwhelming success, while the government said participation was “uneven”. Judging by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s insouciant demeanour as he entered Congress on the morning of the strike, his government had little to worry about. And yet, the mass closure of businesses for the day, the crippling of the country’s bus services and thousands (or 70 percent, according to the organisers) of workers marching through Spain’s … [Read more...] about Spain’s general strike: too much, too late