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This morning the government bitterly digests the "error" that has led to the form of an agreement between the PSOE, United We Can and EH Bildu to repeal the labor reform in its entirety. A negotiation that the Chief Executive, Pedro Sánchez, promoted and knew at all times but whose final execution has caused a political earthquake today. The political consequences are so serious, according to government sources, that Sánchez this morning was forced to "roll up his sleeves" and explain himself to employers and unions. That was not enough. The CEOE breaks the social dialogue with the coalition government, despite the collaboration maintained in the economic and social management of the coronavirus health crisis.

The need for the fifth extension of the state of alarm to be approved led Sánchez to cross the red line to negotiate with EH Bildu to fix his abstention. The Government, through different channels, held conversations with the parliamentary groups. The first vice president, Carmen Calvo, returned to deal with the PNV (as two weeks ago) and Iván Redondo's team repeated with Ciudadanos. But at the same time, in Congress, the socialist spokesperson opened a route with Bildu, at the request of the president, and an approach to ERC was attempted through different interlocutors.

Sánchez was aware of Bildu's interest in an express promise with the repeal of the labor reform and the proof is that he facilitated the agreement by pointing out in his speech in the plenary session on Wednesday that he discussed the new extension of the state of alarm he mentioned. "Our commitment remains indelible. As soon as we get out of this emergency, we will resume our legislature priorities," he told EH Bildu spokeswoman Mertxe Aizpurua, assuming next that they would abstain.

But, different sources confirm that he was oblivious to the creation of the subsequent document, which, to the surprise of almost the entire government, the PSOE and even Unidos Podemos, included the term "integral" repeal of the labor reform. A "goal by the squad", according to the sources consulted, that Bildu sneaked into the two negotiators, the socialist spokeswoman, Adriana Lastra, and her counterpart in Podemos, Pablo Echenique. There is no explanation for why they accepted that term and also the deadline for executing it before the extraordinary measures adopted by Covid-19 end. Both, they point out, have had a good "rapapolvo". Lastra de Sánchez and Echenique by Pablo Iglesias.

As soon as the signed document was known, at the conclusion of the plenary, several ministers called Sánchez to show their disbelief for its content, but explicitly the third vice president and economy minister, Nadia Calviño, demanded to rectify the agreement. Neither Calviño, nor the majority of government ministers, were aware of the details of the negotiation with the 'abertzale' party.

Sources close to the economic vice president specify that he knew the details at the time that Bildu released them and was concerned about the impact that an announcement of this nature would have on social dialogue and thus made La Moncloa see it. Calviño considered that it was the worst time to make these types of announcements when the conditions for prolonging the ERTE are being negotiated with employers and unions and the terms of aid funds for the countries most affected by the crisis are being defined in Brussels. In fact, in the economic area of ​​the Executive, the wink made by the president to Bildu in the parliamentary session was already surprising.

According to other government sources, that had to be enough, and they should never have agreed to sign a joint text, at least "in a hurry." Because of the consequences it has had on social dialogue and because this approach to EH Bildu is not understood when the Executive's priority partner is the PNV and there are elections on July 12, in which both parties compete for the space voter nationalist and independence.

In addition, people familiar with the negotiation explain to this newspaper that the true interest of the abertzale formation was the authorization to use the surplus of the municipalities and not the labor reform.

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  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19
  • Labour reform
  • Bildu
  • PSOE
  • PNV
  • Pablo Iglesias
  • Pedro Sánchez
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  • United We Can
  • United We Can
  • Adriana Lastra
  • Pablo Echenique
  • Nadia Calviño
  • Ivan Redondo
  • ERC
  • Citizens
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  • CEOE
  • Basque Country Elections
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