Will trade unions and employers in Spain manage to seal a framework agreement on collective bargaining and employment this year? That is the question on people’s lips as talks remain at a standstill and with the deadlines set by participants having already been passed. New meetings are scheduled to take place before the end of April, in order to achieve a breakthrough in dialogue. In particular, social partners are at odds over wages being indexed to the country’s retail price index, so as to avoid a loss of purchasing power.
Negotiations over wages continued for several months last year, before those involved acknowledged their breakdown. They finally threw in the towel in July, leaving collective agreements without a reference point to provide an outline for negotiations. This year, the Workers’ Commissions (CCOO) and the General Union of Workers (UGT) gave themselves until the end of March to find common ground with the CEOE, which represents Spanish businesses, and seal a fourth collective bargaining and employment framework agreement (AENC) for 2018 and 2019.
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