News

Unfair collective agreement for Spanish commerce workers



On 31 January, the collective agreement of department stores,was signed by Spanish employers ANGED (Auchan, Carrefour, FNAC, El Corte Inglés, IKEA, Leroy Merlin, Mediamarkt, etc.),and by Fetico and Fasga, the "yellow" retail unions in Spain. It has been strongly rejected by our affiliated unions Fecoht-CC.OO and CHTJ-UGT.



This is the most regressive collective agreement f of history for this sector in Spain.



According to our Spanish affiliates, the main issues to highlight in this attack against commerce workers are:



- Increase of the annual work of 28 hours a year without pay increase. Although wages are already low, workers must now work one week for free each year !



- Almost total flexibility on hours and work schedule.



- Wage freeze for the duration of the collective agreement (4 years), allowing a decrease of 5%, in workplaces where sales fall. This means that there will be outlets with lower wages than others in the same company.



- Elimination of additional payment for Sunday work. This agreement promotes Sunday shop opening, a counterproductive choice particularly when Spanish people have no more money to spend.



According to UNI Europa, CC.OO and UGT, this is not the agreement that the workers deserve. This is a services sector where most companies if not all have benefits despite the crisis.



UNI Europa supports CCOO and UGT in their actions to fight against this agreement by all legal and labour means, with a view to reverse the situation in companies and workplaces.



Any message of solidarity is welcome, as we face a long-term struggle, throughout the term of the agreement.



Messages of support can be sent to our Spanish affiliates directly : Fernando Medina, fmedina@fecoht.ccoo.es and Emilio Ferrero Internacional, internacional@chtjugt.net . Please copy UNI Europa for information: fabrice.warneck@uniglobalunion.org