Genoa rectifies Feijóo after calling sick leave "cancer" and pointing to sick workers

The Popular Party has had to come out to put out the fire that Alberto Núñez Feijóo ignited with sick leave. A day after calling absenteeism “cancer” and questioning whether a person on sick leave can earn the same as when they go to work, Génova has tried to correct the course and now limit the message to cases of fraud.

The rectification has been verbalized by Juan Bravo. The deputy secretary of the Treasury for the PP has defended that Feijóo was referring to fraudulent sick leave and not to sick workers. He also admitted that the party may not have explained itself well. “Do you think Feijóo wants someone who is sick with cancer to earn less?” he asked on 'La Sexta', in the midst of a containment operation.

The problem for the PP is that Feijóo did not only talk about fraud. Before the Basque Business Circle, the popular leader questioned the agreements that supplement salary during sick leave and warned that, if he reaches La Moncloa, he will address the issue “with or without agreement” with social agents. The phrase fell like a declaration of intent on very sensitive labor rights.

The PP changes the framework and now talks about fraud

Génova is now trying to shift the debate to the issue of fraudulent absenteeism. Bravo has maintained that there are data pointing to insufficiently controlled situations and has insisted that the cost of absenteeism would have risen from 14,000 million in 2018 to more than 30,000 million in 2025. The PP wants to present Feijóo as the leader who “puts the bell on the cat”.

The tweet by Borja Sémper fits right into this point, after the explanation of the PP's new argument. His message reinforces Génova's idea that workers who get up early would be the first interested in combating fraud to protect the right to sick leave when they need it.

The nuance also affects the method. Feijóo spoke of acting even if there was no agreement. Bravo has corrected that reading and has assured that, if there is no pact with unions and employers, they will have to continue sitting down until it is reached. This is an important shift, because the initial blow had not only pointed to those on sick leave, but had also called collective bargaining into question.

The very functioning of sick leave leaves a part of Feijóo's discourse affected. In Spain, a medical leave is not an unjustified absence. It is processed by a doctor and, in common illness, the ordinary benefit does not always equate to 100% of the salary. The first three days are not covered by public benefit, from the fourth to the twentieth day 60% of the regulatory base is collected, and from day 21 75%, except for improvements agreed upon in collective bargaining agreements.

Sánchez accuses Feijóo of stigmatizing the sick

Pedro Sánchez has escalated the response from Ankara, where he is participating in the NATO summit. The President of the Government has accused Feijóo of stigmatizing sick workers and has rejected talking about absenteeism when it comes to temporary disability. In his opinion, the leader of the PP cannot hide behind a bad explanation because “everyone” understood what he meant.

Moncloa's political message is clear. The Government wants to fit Feijóo's words into an agenda of cuts that, according to the PSOE, already appears in the regional agreements between PP and Vox. Sánchez summarized it on Tuesday on social media with a direct phrase: “Whoever calls sick leave ‘cancer’ and proposes that sick workers earn less makes it clear whose side they are on”.

Yolanda Díaz also lashed out at the popular leader. The second vice-president recalled that being sick is not a choice and accused Feijóo of wanting to leave workers unprotected when they are in a situation of greater vulnerability. From the Ministry of Labor, they read the PP leader's phrase as a warning of what he would do if he governed.

Elma Saiz, Mónica García, Óscar López, and other members of the Executive have followed the same line. The Government maintains that the PP is mixing medical leave, permits, unjustified absences, and fraud to establish a framework that blames workers. The Ministry of Health, furthermore, has reminded that sick leave and discharges are medical acts, not capricious decisions of the employee.

Unions, employers, and the far-right Vox enter the controversy

The unions have responded harshly. Unai Sordo has accused Feijóo of building the debate on falsehoods and demonizing people who get sick. Pepe Álvarez has rejected mixing sick leave, permits, and licenses as if everything were part of the same bag. For UGT and CCOO, the increase in sick leave also has to do with the saturation of public healthcare, waiting lists, the aging of the working population, and mental health problems.

The employers' association, on the other hand, has seen an opportunity to push its own debate. Antonio Garamendi has avoided literally embracing Feijóo's harshness but has insisted that absenteeism is a problem that requires measures. From CEIM, the Madrid employers' association, the message has been much more favorable to the PP, celebrating that there are politicians willing to propose solutions.

The unexpected blow for Feijóo has come from his right. The ultra-leader Santiago Abascal has distanced himself and assured that workers are not Spain's problem. Vox has taken advantage of the controversy to dispute the working-class vote with the PP and present itself as a defender of workers, self-employed individuals, and small business owners against the Government, unions, and employers' association.

There lies one of the political keys to the controversy. Feijóo tried to toughen his discourse before Basque businessmen with a message of economic order and spending control but ended up opening an enormous social flank. The PP is now trying to redirect it towards fraud. Vox has not wanted to bear that cost. The Government has turned it into proof of what it calls the right's austerity agenda.

The scene has also left a difficult image for Génova. While its spokespeople tried to qualify the popular leader's words, Feijóo appeared this Wednesday in Pamplona to attend the second running of the bulls of San Fermín. He did not make the correction himself. Others did.