Sánchez accuses Feijóo of stigmatizing sick workers after PP leader calls absenteeism a 'cancer'
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his ministers have sharply criticized opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo for suggesting workers on sick leave should earn less, calling the remarks an attack on labor rights. The PP says it only wants to tackle fraudulent absenteeism.
Feijóo's remarks
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the conservative Partido Popular, told a gathering of Basque business leaders on Tuesday that absenteeism is "a cancer we cannot pay for" and questioned whether workers on sick leave should receive the same pay as when they are working. He cited 1.6 million daily absences at a cost of more than 30 billion euros and pledged to tackle the issue "with or without agreement" from unions.
If in company agreements it is agreed that a person who does not go to work earns the same as when they go to work, what do you want me to say?
Government backlash
Speaking from the NATO summit in Ankara, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the comparison of sick leave to cancer "absolutely unfortunate" and said it reflects a mindset that has always brought "many cuts to the labor rights of many workers in this country" whenever the PP has governed. He argued the opposition and its regional pacts with the far-right Vox party are about "curtailing rights and questioning social and labor gains that took many years to achieve."
Whoever calls sick leave a cancer and proposes that sick workers earn less makes clear which side they are on.
Minister of Inclusion and Social Security Elma Saiz said the PP's "only project for Spain is cuts" and insisted that "the health of workers must be at the centre." Territorial Policy Minister Ángel Víctor Torres accused Feijóo of confusing absenteeism with medical leave, while Digital Transformation Minister Óscar López said the proposal "goes against rights and against workers."
PP clarifies stance
Popular Party spokespeople moved quickly to contain the fallout, stating that Feijóo was referring exclusively to unjustified absenteeism and fraud, not to legitimate sick leave. They accused the government of "manipulation" and "cheap demagoguery." The party insisted that worker protections are not at risk and that the aim is to combat only those absences that lack medical justification.
Business and union reactions
CEOE president Antonio Garamendi defended Feijóo, saying he "has the sensitivity to see that this is a problem that needs to be analysed" and that not talking about it would be hiding reality. Garamendi noted that workers under 35 lost 9 million workdays last year, mostly on Fridays and Mondays. Foment del Treball president Josep Sánchez Llibre called absenteeism a country-wide problem to be solved through social dialogue.
Union leaders rejected the PP's framing. CCOO general secretary Unai Sordo said it is false that anyone can take sick leave without justification and that the rise in leave duration is linked to the state of public healthcare. UGT's Pepe Álvarez stressed that genuine absenteeism already carries sanctions and that lumping together sick leave, permits and licences is "nonsense."
What is unacceptable is that neither the employers' association nor the head of the Partido Popular demonise people who are forced to take leave and spin an absolutely tendentious narrative.
Autonomous workers weigh in
UPTA, the union of professionals and self-employed workers, called it a "serious mistake" to equate temporary incapacity with unjustified absenteeism, warning that the message casts suspicion on sick workers and indirectly questions the judgement of healthcare professionals. President Eduardo Abad said questioning the number of medical leaves implicitly doubts thousands of public-sector doctors and demanded that any such accusations be backed by evidence, not political statements.
