News

Eleven trade union federations from seven European countries (Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Finland, Spain and Sweden) convened by UNI Europa, agreed on 23 February in Madrid to launch the formal negotiation process to establish a European works council  for the Inditex Group

The meeting aimed to discuss and agree the broad outlines of the draft EWC agreement which in turn will be subject to negotiation with the company in the framework of the special negotiating body (SNB) in accordance with the provisions of the EWC Directive. Trade Union organisations at the meeting represented altogether two-thirds of the more than 97,000 employees working for the Inditex group in Europe.

UNI Europa presented the results of preparatory talks it had with the company in the previous months, with the active participation and support of its Spanish affiliates CCOO and UGT, in which Inditex has shown a constructive spirit to the launch of the negotiation process. That is why the perimeter of the EWC, after the negotiation takes place and reaches an agreement, will cover the activities of retail in the EU countries and manufacturing and logistics, which so far are present only in Spain

The European Works Council is a body of information and consultation on matters of a transnational nature in the European Union, and once established, along with the Global Agreement (GA) signed by Inditex with the international trade union federation IndustriALL for the supply chain, and UNI itself for retail (in 2005), will be an important instrument for the labor movement to work towards a coordinated and integrated trade union action in the first world multinational in the textile and retail sector.

UNI Europa welcomed the support from its affiliates and will soon enter into talks with the company to convene the SBN, hopefully before the summer.