Jesús Caldera Sánchez-Capitán
Born in Béjar (Salamanca) in 1957, Jesús Caldera is a Spanish deputy with a long career in politics as a member of the PSOE (Socialist Worker’s Party).
Political Career
Jesús Caldera began his career in the 1980s when he joined the public administration as a city manager in the province of Salamanca. He became a Member of Parliament for Salamanca in the II legislature (1982). After José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was elected Secretary General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), he was named speaker of the Socialist Group (2000–2004). In the XXXVII Congress of the Socialist Worker’s Party held in July 2008, Caldera was named the Secretary of the Ideas and Programs. 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 the Ministry of Labor and Social Issues, an office he assumed on April 18, 2004.Caldera signed over twenty social and labor agreements while leading this ministry. 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. 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.
Education
He holds degrees in political science and sociology from the Complutense University of Madrid and a law degree from UNED.
