20.03.2014 - 10:49
A well-attended event of the Catalonia Small and Medium Business Association (PIMEC) gathered 1,400 business owners in Barcelona’s Palau de Congressos Hall on Wednesday evening. The meeting had been called in protest of the policies that make it difficult to get out of the financial crisis. PIMEC’s president, Josep González, asked for restraint at the beginning of the meeting, but it was for naught. Whistling was clearly heard when Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy’s face appeared in the video, and the event closed to cries in favor of the independence of Catalonia. There were even Catalan independence flags waving in the audience. Wednesday, March 19, 2014, therefore, will become a historic day. For the first time, a PIMEC event ends with shouts for independence. “That had never happened to us ever. Now, if it happens in FC Barcelona’s stadium, or at the Liceu Opera House, it can happen to us too. The board doesn’t share the sentiment of the shouting that was heard, but we are not considering any sanctions on any of those who participated. That would be the end-all. We do say that PIMEC is in favor of the right to decide of the Catalans. But today, was a purely business-related event,” said González, who did not want the pro-independence demonstrations to dominate the newspaper headlines. And he was partly right. Yesterday’s cries of independence were not the only things heard. There were also many arguments against the privileges of the banks, of big business, and of government inefficiency. In addition, pamphlets were passed around in favor of the creation of a Catalan currency. Yes, something is changing in the business world.
“We say ‘Enough!’ to the government’s submission to certain business sectors (particularly banking, energy, public works and distribution).” Is that a quote from the CUP? No, they are the words of business owners spoken yesterday from the presidential podium. “We say ‘Enough!’ to the loss of entrepreneurs’ personal and family wealth while banks recover their debts and receive generous public bailouts.” Was it Iniciativa per Catalunya? No. They were small business owners who question the bailouts for banks. Because in last night’s event, ideas were proclaimed left and right that were gathered from PIMEC’s members through social media and that yesterday bubbled up from below as the board decided to allow them to be expressed in front of everyone. For example, “We say ‘Enough!’ to the average of 171 days that Ibex-35 [Spanish Stock Exchange] members take to pay their providers, without the CNV or any other regulators doing anything to curb this illegality.” The law says 60 days. Was it the libertarian CGT union accusing big Íbex-35 businesses of illegal actions? No, yesterday it was small business owners.
Yes, yesterday’s event was proof that the interests of the small and medium business owner are farther and farther away from the interests of the banks and big business. Data doesn’t lie. “A large company pays 12% in corporate taxes. Small and medium businesses pay 24%,” said González. No, not all business owners are the same. Some, the big ones, pay half as much corporate tax as the small ones and they live off of the BOE. The others, the small and medium ones, pay twice as much corporate tax and end their events with cries of independence.
Yesterday’s PIMEC meeting was remarkable. Remarkable because the Catalan small and medium business owners employ two thirds of the workers in the private sector. Humble big business, just a third. Therefore, if PIMEC ends up converting to pro-independence (was yesterday the beginning?), they may just well put the pressure on those two-thirds to pay their taxes in Catalonia. And if the PIMEC questions banking’s capitalism, perhaps they’ll help look for alternatives to this behemoth, private, inefficient banking system that we have had to support—and that yesterday they denounced so clearly.
