There has been conflict for three months, but in the end the bosses and unions have come to terms. a meeting point in the negotiations of the national shoe agreement that allowed them to make the peace. This made it possible for both parties to agree on a proposal, thanks to the Confederal Mediation and Arbitration Service (SIMA). Salary guarantee clause that will cover the CPI increase, provided that it does not exceed 15.5%. The agreement includes, among other improvements to workers, a reduction in the 12-hour day for the four years the agreement was made.
Negotiating collective bargaining for footwear, an industry in the state of Alicante that brings together 16,500 workers, has not been an easy road. The main point of the dispute has revolved around wage demands from the very beginning, as both CC OO and UGT requested a review item as an indispensable measure that would make it possible to equalize the increase in the CPI. prevent loss of purchasing power. Employers, for their part, have accepted this revision, although it is limited to 2.5%. The lack of agreement led unions to bet on mobilization.With a strike on December 2 that resulted in a cautious pursuit and a return to the negotiation path.
When this is the case, and after various conflicts, both sides finally managed to reach an agreement in Madrid on Tuesday in the presence of SIMA representatives.had put forward the proposal on which the deal was based two weeks ago. The main points include a 4% salary increase for 2022 unpaid from 1 July, an increase by the same amount for 2023, 2.5% for 2024 and 2% for 2025, for a total of up to 12.5%. In addition, a salary guarantee clause has been added in order to meet the increase in CPI, provided that it does not exceed 15.5% at the end of the validity period.
The current 1,788-hour working day will be reduced by four hours in 2023, four hours in 2024, and 12 hours in 2025 by the same amount.
Another important element in the text of the contract is that the employers and the unions must agree, within six months at the latest, from the signing of the contract. they undertake to agree on a discontinuous permanent contract model that responds to the specifics of the footwear industry.to this end, it regulates the form of appeal and the minimum duration of action, which in principle should be around six months.
It is planned to include improvements such as the inclusion of indefinite retrospective, the removal of the requirement to justify two out of four days, improvements in equality, telework and vocational training, and adaptation of the loyalty reward to the existing pension system. annual accumulation of the union watch case, for its usefulness and implementation, and among the delegates and members of the corporate committee of the same center.
The deal has been approved by the Spanish Federation of the Footwear Industries (FICE) and the Spanish Footwear and Leather Goods Component and Machinery Companies Association (AEC). José María Escrigas, spokesman for the business representation, stressed that the agreement reached “allows us to meet 2023 with the greatest possible unity, thereby ensuring that companies and workers emerge stronger and are also assured”. social peace for the next four years».
Ismael Senent, secretary of the UGT in La Muntanya, Vinalopó and Vega Baja, expressed his satisfaction with the agreement, saying that “even though we don’t include everything we want in terms of salary, it comes to the global calculation”. the same”. Miguel Ángel Cerdá, representative in the negotiation by both Senent and CC OO on the delimitation of Vinalopó and Vega Baja, also emphasizes the importance of being able to agree on a discontinuous fixed line contract.