Spain: first meetings between employers and unions on the reform of collective bargaining

It could be difficult to bring both parties’ views together and labor market experts aren’t very optimistic as to the outcome of the negotiations.  While unions and employers are in favor of a reform, they’re both standing firm. The current bargaining framework was consensually established in 1979, when democratic unions were legalized, and it was updated in 1994.  While unions simply want to rejuvenate the current system, employers are trying to push in depth reforms through, to make collective bargaining more flexible to encourage direct agreements between employers and employees. Employers’ experts present a highly critical analysis of the current bargaining framework, deemed indifferent to the economic situation and the concrete context in different sectors, which harms businesses’ competitiveness. They criticize the fact that, in 2009, wages increased by 4% via collectively-agreed agreements in a tough economic situation. They say the reform needs to put in order, rationalize contents, and speed up the procedures for the negotiation of agreements.  Here are some of the experts’ proposals.