Jesús Caldera Sánchez-Capitán (born 31 October 1957 in

Béjar Béjar () is a town and Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the province of Salamanca, autonomous community of Castile and León. As of 2018, it had a population of 12,961. The historical development of the town has been link ...

, Salamanca) is a Spanish socialist politician. He holds degrees in political science and sociology from the Complutense University of Madrid and a law degree from UNED.He was Minister of Labor during the eighth legislature of the Spanish government (2008-2011).

Biography

Born in

(

Salamanca Province Salamanca () is a province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León (Castilla y León). It is bordered by the provinces of Zamora, Valladolid, Ávila, and Cáceres, and on the west by Portugal. It ha ...

) in 1957, Jesús Caldera began his career at the beginning of the 1980s when he joined the public administration as a city manager in the province of Salamanca. He became a member of the

Spanish Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. It has 350 members elect ...

for

in the second legislature (1982). After José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was elected Secretary General of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gove ...

(PSOE), he was named speaker of the Socialist Group (2000–2004). In the 37th Congress of the Socialist Workers' Party held in July 2008, Caldera was name
Secretary of the Ideas and Programs

Minister of Labour and Social Issues (2004-2008)

After the PSOE victory in March 2004, President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero entrusted Caldera with one of the most important responsibilities within the executive committee: to lead th

an office he assumed on 18 April 2004. Caldera signed over twenty social and labor agreements while leading this ministry. Key labor reforms: Caldera raised the minimum wage to 600 euros/month, built consensus with social agents for labor reform as well as social security that allowed for the creation of more jobs with permanent contracts and improved payments to the neediest groups, at the same time he guaranteed the future of the system by making early retirement more difficult. Additionally, he brought forward the independent contractors statute and put a plan in place to reduce workplace accidents. Key social reforms: Caldera created a new right, the right of dependent people to get assistance, raised paternity leave days from four to fifteen. Further, his ministry was charged with migratory policies and (along with social agents) to regularize more than half a million immigrants.

Ideas Foundation for Progress

After Caldera left the Ministry of Labor in April 2008, it was announced that his new challenge was to create, put in motion and preside over a large think tank, the

IDEAS Foundation for progress The Ideas Foundation for Progress ( es, Fundación Ideas para el Progreso), also known as the Fundación IDEAS (IDEAS Foundation), was a Spanish think tank that works on political ideas and proposals for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) ...

that would unite the smaller foundations tied to the PSOE. This foundation's mission would be to create new ideas and projects for the party with the objective of staying abreast of social change and offering up to date solutions.

References

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