Daniel Albarracín

In June 2003, management and trade unions signed a preliminary agreement on a unified collective agreement for two of Spain's nuclear power plants, those at Almaraz and Trillo. This may represent the first step towards a sectoral agreement for the sector, where bargaining currently occurs at plant

In its 2002 'Report on industrial accidents and occupational illnesses', Spain's UGT trade union confederation examines the country's high industrial accident and illness rate and seeks to identify the causes. These are found to to be lack of compliance with the relevant legislation by companies

In May 2003, Spain's UGT trade union confederation highlighted the unequal situation of women and men in employment, and notably a gender pay gap of around 30%. Women are also, it is claimed, subject to occupational segregation, higher unemployment and less stable employment.

In late April 2003, the Spanish government presented a series of measures which focus mainly on cutting company costs and thereby seeking to promote employment. The measures include incentives to recruit women with children, changes to the social security scheme for self-employed workers, and lower

The Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CEPYME) is the central employers' organisation for Spain's many companies employing fewer than 250 workers. This feature examines CEPYME's views on two issues of particular importance to it in 2003 - the structure of Spain's industrial

Bargaining over a new collective agreement for the Spanish banking sector began in early 2003, shortly after a major round of elections of workers' representatives, which governed the composition of the union's joint bargaining commission. The unions' demands mainly concern higher pay, shorter

Despite the fact that the Spanish government, in line with EU recommendations, wants to increase the average age of retirement, in reality workers are tending to leave the labour market at an increasingly early age. Many employers apply policies aimed at replacing older workers with young ones, and

Employment in the Spanish information and communications technology (ICT) sector, following growth in recent years (especially in services), has stagnated in early 2003, with the industry - and especially telecommunications - hit hard by the general economic downturn. This feature examines the