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 created a pathway for peace. Thanks to the Confederal Mediation and Arbitration Service SIMA, both sides found common ground and could endorse a proposal that balanced the concerns of workers and employers. A salary guarantee clause was put in place to cover any CPI increase, with a firm cap at 15.5%. The agreement also delivers a series of workplace improvements, including a four-year plan to reduce the standard 12-hour day.
Negotiating collective bargaining for footwear, an industry centered in Alicante that brings together about sixteen thousand five hundred workers, has never been straightforward. The dispute has consistently centered on wages, with the CC OO and UGT unions insisting on a price-adjusted review to preserve purchasing power in line with CPI changes. Employers signaled tolerance for a CPI-linked adjustment, but limited it to a modest 2.5%. The stalemate pushed unions to consider mobilization, culminating in a December 2 strike that prompted cautious recalibration and a renewed commitment to negotiations.
When negotiations resumed, after a series of clashes, both sides ultimately reached an accord in Madrid on a Tuesday, in the presence of SIMA representatives who had proposed the framework two weeks earlier. The core elements include a 4% wage increase for 2022, paid retroactively from July 1, with a matching increase for 2023, followed by 2.5% for 2024 and 2% for 2025, culminating in a total potential rise of up to 12.5%. A salary guarantee clause was added to safeguard against CPI fluctuations, provided the total increase does not exceed 15.5% through the contract’s term.
Under the agreement, the current 1,788-hour annual working day will be shortened by four hours in 2023, another four hours in 2024, and a final reduction of twelve hours in 2025, all aligned with the same proportional changes.
An additional pivotal element is the commitment from both employers and unions to finalize, within six months of signing, a discontinuous permanent contract model tailored to the footwear sector. The agreement outlines the process for filing appeals and sets a minimum duration for the new contract term, which is expected to be around six months in practice.
The contract also contemplates several improvements, including the introduction of indefinite retrospective rights, the removal of the requirement to justify two of four days, enhanced equality measures, expanded telework options, and a strengthened vocational training program. It also calls for aligning the loyalty reward with the current pension framework. The plan emphasizes the ongoing oversight by the union watchdog and the involvement of delegates and members of the plant-level works councils to ensure practical implementation.
Shoe deal stalemate and unions increase pressure
The deal has gained formal endorsement from the Spanish Federation of the Footwear Industries (FICE) and the Spanish association representing components and machinery for footwear and leather goods. A spokesperson for the business community stressed that the agreement enables a united stance going into 2023, with the confidence that both companies and workers will emerge stronger and social peace will hold for the next four years.
Ismael Senent, secretary for UGT in La Muntaña, Vinalopó and Vega Baja, expressed satisfaction with the arrangement, noting that even if all salary wishes were not fully realized, the package contributes to a fair overall calculation. Miguel Ángel Cerdá, who represented both Senent and CC OO in the negotiations for the Vinalopó and Vega Baja regions, stressed the importance of reaching consensus on the discontinuous fixed-line contract and its practical application.