Spain's labor minister, communist Yolanda Díaz, on Wednesday accused Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of carrying out reforms "against workers," blaming Spain's far-right Vox party for taking inspiration from them.
Giorgia Meloni "issued a decree on May 1 to govern against workers" and "return to garbage contracts," Yolanda Díaz, number three in Pedro Sánchez's left-wing government, told a Vox deputy who had challenged her during the weekly session of questions to the executive.
'Trash contracts'
In Spain, "junk contracts" refer to the short and precarious employment contracts fought by the left-wing government, and in particular by Yolanda Díaz, who voted in December 2021 a reform of the labour code to fight against temporary contracts.
Yolanda Díaz was referring to the fact that in Italy, the ultra-conservative government led by Giorgia Meloni abolished the "citizenship income", an aid benefiting millions of poor people, on 1 May and replaced it with an "inclusion check" with a more limited scope, a decision described as "provocation" by the opposition and the unions.
Among other measures, the Meloni government has also decided to relax hiring on fixed-term contracts, according to a decree issued at the end of a council of ministers held on Labour Day.
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Shortly before coming to power, Giorgia Meloni had clearly shown her support for Vox, through a video message broadcast during a meeting in Madrid of the Spanish far-right party. "Your government program, the hidden program, it talks about restricting the right to strike, collective bargaining, privatizing pensions and returning to garbage contracts," Yolanda Díaz told the Vox deputy, as the campaign for the local and regional elections on May 28 begins Friday.
A leading figure in Spanish politics, Yolanda Díaz last month launched Sumar, a platform aimed at bringing together the radical left ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for the end of the year. His remarks are not the first criticism Giorgia Meloni has received from a minister of a European country.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin accused Giorgia Meloni on May 4 of being "unable to solve migration problems," causing a diplomatic crisis between Paris and Rome.