Fátima Báñez, the dialoguing and loyal minister who faced the biggest employment crisis in Spain

Fátima Báñez García (Huelva, 1967) was Minister of Employment and Social Security with the governments of Mariano Rajoy between December 2011 and June 2018. She was during a very difficult time in which she had to deal with a broken labor market, with an economy in a critical fiscal state and de facto intervened by Brussels as a result of the bank bailout. It was the time when Moncloa had to apply a good part of the adjustments that the European Commission and its 'men in black' had designed for our country. They say that the then president chose her for that task because he valued her discretion and loyalty and that that trust remained unbreakable throughout the time that Báñez remained in the Executive.

Married and with two children, the Huelva politician had to face an unemployment rate of over 25.7%, the highest since Statistics collected these data, and with the consequences of a financial and debt crisis that wreaked havoc on the national economy and meant a before and after for families and companies. Both unions and employers always highlighted his open and cordial attitude, qualities that earned him the respect of the social partners. They say that she was, at the same time, a born worker and a tough negotiator and that it was very difficult to extract any concessions from her.

That firmness helped him put on track a whole battery of measures in the workplace, a good part of which are still in force. The most notable was the 2012 labor reform, which facilitated dismissal, gave priority to company agreements over sectoral ones, made compensation cheaper in the case of inadmissible workers, and provided companies with greater internal flexibility, which has been key to facing subsequent shocks.

A year later, Báñez promoted the pension reform that introduced the sustainability factor and the Pension Revaluation Index (IRP) so that the increase in benefits was linked to the financial health of Social Security. As minister, she also carried out the first extension of paternity leave, the reform of Vocational Training for employment in 2015 and, throughout that same year, the Employment Activation Strategy, focused on promoting active policies.

In 2016 he had to occupy the Health, Social Services and Equality portfolio on an interim basis between August and November, when he replaced Alfonso Alonso, who left the position to run as the PP candidate for lehendakari in the elections in the Basque Country. For almost twenty years she was a deputy in Congress (2000-2019), where she held important responsibilities in the economic area of ​​her party. Those who crossed paths with her in the hallways of the chamber highlighted her kindness. He always answered any questions with patience and with a smile.

She was also president of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Lower House between 2018 and 2019, from which date she returned to private activity, as a consultant and business advisor. Graduated in Law and Economics and Business Sciences from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE E3), Fátima Báñez had a postgraduate degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University and completed the Leadership Program for Public Management at the IESE Business School.