Merger of the two main Catalan small and medium-sized enterprise associations

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The SEFES and PIMEC employers' organisations agreed in July 1997 to merge, creating a single association that will represent small and medium-sized enterprises in Catalonia. The new association will be called PIMEC-SEFES, will represent more than 45,000 companies and 111 employers' unions and associations, employing 340,000 workers.

Up until now, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME s) in Catalonia were not represented by a single association, but by three employers' organisations.

The historic association, Foment del Treball was founded in 1869 as a protectionist organisation. It became an employers' association in the early 20th century and was a founder member of the CEOE (Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales) central employers' confederation in 1977. Foment now represents 280 employers' unions and some 110,000 companies, including both large companies and SMEs, though this does not mean that they are all formal members.

In the mid-1970s, Business and Financial Services (Servicios empresariales y financieros, SEFES) and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises of Catalonia (Petita i Mitjana Empresa de Catalunya, PIMEC) were created with a common objective: to defend the interests of Catalan SMEs. However, the two associations followed different paths. Whereas PIMEC was based on an existing associative structure formed by several unions and company associations, SEFES was aimed fundamentally at individual companies. Thanks to its existing structure, PIMEC is more representative, which allows it to play a major role at an institutional level and to form part of Advisory Councils. SEFES, on the other hand, is organised fundamentally as an association that meets entrepreneurial needs by offering its members a wide range of benefits that include legal, occupational and training services.

The fact that PIMEC and SEFES had very similar characteristics and that the existence of several associations in the same area hindered the defence of the interests of SMEs clearly revealed the need to pool efforts to obtain better representation of SMEs inCatalonia.

According to the representatives of SEFES and PIMEC, the agreements reached in the course of the April 1997 labour reform (ES9706211F) are an example of this lack of representation, since they do not solve the problems of small companies. According to statements by Agustí Contijoch, the chair of PIMEC: "the labour reform does not envisage the reality of small and medium-sized enterprises, and we have lost the opportunity to adopt specific measures for these companies to generate confidence among employers to create new jobs and to fight insecure employment" (quoted in La Vanguardia on 10 April 1997).

Among the aspects of the reform that are harmful to the interests of SMEs, according to Mr Contijoch, is the abolition of the "discontinuous permanent employment contract". Also, the reform does not solve the problem of the legal complexity of dismissal for objective reasons, which is especially harmful to SMEs due to the high cost of obtaining evidence.

Discussions over the constitution for the new association began three years ago. After an interruption of more than two years, negotiations resumed and on 4 July 1997 a preliminary agreement was signed in which the two associations agreed to set up a sole association for SMEs. This was due to be approved on 22 July by the extraordinary assemblies of the two associations. There will then be a transitional stage that will last for three months, in which a "joint integration committee" chaired by the current chairs of PIMEC, Mr Contijoch, and SEFES, Josep González, will be set up. The new association is expected to start operating in October 1997, chaired by Mr González, while Mr Contijoch will remain as honorary chair.

The main objective of the new association is to create a favourable environment for the creation, development and installation of SMEs in Catalonia. The complementary nature of PIMEC and SEFES will be an added value for the new association. The merger will make it possible to pool efforts to defend the interests of companies and will reinforce the representation of SMEs at an institutional level. Better services can be offered to the associated companies and economies of scale will take effect.

The creation of the new association has met with a favourable reaction from Foment del Treball and from the Generalitat (regional government) of Catalunya, since it simplifies the representation of employers and facilitates the reaching of agreements between employers' associations.