Under a decree-law approved by Spain's Council of Ministers on 21 May, collective agreements negotiated at regional level take precedence over national agreements, provided that their application is more favourable to employees. This change breaks with the collective bargaining architecture that until now gave priority to national agreements and therefore requires an amendment to the labour code. The text has been published in Spain's official gazette but is yet to be validated by a vote in parliament.
The decree-law states that “within the framework of an autonomous community [administrative equivalent of a region, ed.], trade unions and employers’ associations […] may negotiate autonomous community collective agreements and interprofessional agreements which shall take precedence over any other sectoral or national-level agreement […] provided, again, that the agreements and accords obtain the support of the majorities required to form the negotiating committee”, and that “their...
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Article authors
Cécile Thibaud
Freelance