I would like to offer a series of reflections to help understand what has been happening for some years now in this country (and perhaps in almost all developed countries) in terms of labour, the intent behind these policies, and what we can do to change this situation.
Just a couple of decades ago, any young person entering the labour market earned enough money to live independently and with dignity.
This money allowed them to pay for a mortgage or rent on a modest flat, food, electricity, telephone, etc., all of which are necessary to live independently.
After the deliberate creation of the last property bubble (around 2008) and with the excuse of a major ECONOMIC CRISIS caused by this bubble, they took advantage of the situation to implement labour reforms that legalised hiring conditions that had been unthinkable until then.
These labour reforms allowed for:
• Free dismissal, with the incorporation of the cause for dismissal ‘Continuous and voluntary decline in the worker’s performance’. No judge will question or investigate these causes, allowing companies, after recognising the unfairness of the dismissal and paying compensation, to proceed with the dismissal of the worker.
Before these reforms, it was very difficult to dismiss a worker with a permanent contract without them having committed a very serious offence that justified such dismissal.
These dismissals were necessary because dismissed employees (with decent conditions were a bad example and a dangerous reference for new hires. By eliminating these employees, young people were prevented from asking why they, performing similar duties to more senior employees, were paid much lower salaries.
• Significantly reducing the amount of severance pay for dismissals, making these dismissals ‘much more profitable’ for the companies that carry them out.
• À la carte contracts with totally surreal contract modalities, such as fixed-discontinuous contracts, part-time contracts and contracts with irregular working hours.
Where are the trade unions calling for the elimination of these contracts?
They are nowhere to be seen, nor are they expected to appear.
With these new types of contracts, the minimum wage set out in the ‘minimum interprofessional wage’ is bypassed, which, although totally insufficient, is above the wages that many young people are earning. They also allow the worker’s schedule to be designed with almost no restrictions.
• Elimination of millions of jobs replaced by new technologies and automated machinery, with the consequent impoverishment of many people who are laid off, and these new jobs (performed remotely and/or by robotic machines) being exempt from taxes that would compensate for the loss of money collected from the payrolls of the replaced workers. These revenues are used to pay for pensions and public services such as health and education.
With this reduction in tax revenues, they are paving the way to justify cuts in pensions, which in many cases are well above these miserable wages and which, in order to be paid, cannot be covered by the revenues from active workers.
I know young people working in very precarious conditions who do not earn more than €900 per month and whose jobs, before 2008, were valued and well paid.
The intention behind these policies is none other than the elimination of the middle class, leaving behind a minority of poorly paid slave labourers, a significant portion of the population without work receiving a universal minimum wage that you will receive as long as you behave, do what the system tells you to do and do not protest, and a minority elite (protected by our political representatives) with unlimited privileges and resources.
These policies not only affect the young people who suffer from them, but are also significantly damaging the fragile economies of their parents and immediate family members who have to help their children make ends meet.
And the question that arises is:
What can we do in the face of this situation?
As solutions, we could suggest:
• Do not collaborate with the exploitation of workers who we know are working in precarious conditions.
Pay special attention to online purchases, which significantly reduce jobs and use workers (delivery drivers) who are exploited under the conditions described above. Let’s not shop online, even if it’s slightly cheaper, if we can buy the product in a shop staffed by people.
• Making cash payments that do not generate bank commission fees for business owners, do not allow our purchasing habits to be traced, and will prevent the implementation of digital currencies and all that this entails (CDBCs).
• Those of us who were working before 2008 have an obligation to pass on our experiences and knowledge to these young people, as they are unaware of them and cannot imagine them, and therefore will not demand them. Convey to them what I mentioned at the beginning of this document (a working person 20 or 30 years ago was financially independent) and point out that the current situation is unjustifiable and is the result of decisions made by a privileged few in the world (the misnamed elite), supported by politicians who in no way represent us.
• Do not accept the situation by saying what the system wants you to say, ‘this is how it is and things cannot be changed’. When we accept the situation, we are unconsciously collaborating with it and the misnamed “elite” does not violate our free will, since these measures are accepted voluntarily. Although it may be hard to believe, they cannot violate our ‘free will’ without consequences. Just consider that even to insert a cookie on your computer, they need our approval and consent.
We must express our discontent to our friends, family, and on social media, stating that WE DO NOT AGREE WITH THESE WORK CONTRACTS.
Finally, we must point out that we are undergoing a major change in the current system. As a result of this change, a new humanity that is much more fair and equitable may emerge, or a dictatorial system unprecedented in history.
The question is:
Which system do you want for yourself and your children?
Antonio Pérez
