Zapatero puts reform drive ahead of Oslo trip
PM cancels Norway visit to attend meeting on collective bargaining changes
Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said Wednesday he had cancelled a planned trip to Oslo today to attend an urgent meeting on "economic reforms."
Zapatero's enigmatic reference was to a meeting due to be held today at the prime minister's residence with the heads of the country's main unions, UGT's Cándido Méndez and CCOO's Ignacio Fernández Toxo, as well as Juan Rosell, the head of the CEOE, Spain's biggest employer group, on reforms to the collective-bargaining system, sources close to the negotiations said.
The PM's intervention comes at a time when the talks on making collective agreements more flexible to deal with crises are at an advanced stage.
Zapatero was due to attend a forum in Oslo organized by the think-tank Policy Network.
