Jesús Caldera

Jesús Caldera Sánchez- Capitán ( born October 31, 1957 in Béjar, Salamanca ) is a Spanish politician of the socialist PSOE. From 2004 to 2008 he was Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the first Cabinet Zapatero.

CV and political career

After studying Political Science and Sociology at the Complutense University of Madrid Caldera worked in the Municipality of Lagunilla ( province of Salamanca ).

After his accession to the socialist party PSOE in 1982 he was first elected as a deputy in the Spanish parliament, to which he belongs ever since. After the election of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as party chief Caldera 2000-2004 was spokesman of the Socialist Group in the Parliament. After the electoral victory of the PSOE in the Spanish Parliament elections in 2004 Caldera was appointed on 18 April 2004 Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.

As Minister Caldera was the beginning of 2005 led the legalization of around 800,000 immigrants who had worked without a residence permit in Spain, one of the most important projects of the Zapatero government. He also installed by the end of 2005 an extension of the right to parental leave for civil servants. In early 2006, he realized a required especially on the part of unions labor market reform to counter the practice of succession of fixed-term contracts and to improve the protection against dismissal.

Before the Spanish Parliament Elections 2008 Caldera took over the campaign strategy of the PSOE, which eventually led to a renewed success of the party. When the formation of the Cabinet, he retired, however, from the Minister of Labour; Instead, Zapatero announced that Caldera would take over the management of a newly established foundation of the PSOE party.