First national agreement signed for audio-visual technicians

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At the end of June 2000, a first national collective agreement was signed for technicians employed by audio-visual production companies in Spain. The agreement is an important step forward in the regulation of employment conditions in a sector with little tradition of collective bargaining. The agreement provides for a 35-hour working week and major pay improvements.

A first national collective agreement for technicians employed by audio-visual production companies was signed on 27 June 2000. The deal was signed by the sector's employers' association, the Federation of Associations of Spanish Audio-Visual Producers (Federación de Asociaciones de Productores Audiovisuales Españoles, FAPAE) and representatives of three trade unions: the Communication and Transport Federation (Federación de Comunicación y Transporte) affiliated to the Trade Union Confederation of Workers' Commissions (Comisiones Obreras, CC.OO); the National Services Federation (Federación Estatal de Servicios) affiliated to the General Workers' Confederation (Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT); and the Spanish Associate Film Technicians (Técnicos Asociados Cinematográficos Españoles, TACE). The agreement affects audio-visual production companies working in cinema and television and will remain in force for four years (2000-3).

The fact that this first agreement has been signed is in itself an important step forward in the regulation of the employment conditions of workers in emerging sectors with little tradition of collective bargaining. However, the audio-visual agreement is even more significant, because it establishes substantial improvements in employment conditions, especially working hours and pay. This was achieved after a complex bargaining process that went on for three years.

One of the most important points of the agreement is the reduction of working time. The agreement establishes a working week of 37.5 hours in 2000, decreasing progressively to 35 hours in 2003. This deal is thus one of the very few sectoral agreements in Spain that have established a 35-hour week (ES0008102F). In this case, the agreement on shorter working hours is a compensation for great flexibility in the distribution of working time. The agreement also establishes criteria for organising working hours and travel.

Another important aspect of the settlement is the pay improvements it brings. The agreement provides for a sustained increase in employees' purchasing power, with a wage rise of the increase in the real retail prices index (RPI) plus one percentage point during each of the four years of its validity. As a compensation for the irregular distribution of working hours, an "availability bonus" of 25% of the basic wage will compensate for alterations in hours of work and longer working days. Finally, there is also a major improvement in the sick pay situation, with companies paying sick workers the difference between social security benefit and their full wage. The wage agreements are complemented with the establishment of specific wage tables for the various professional categories of film and television production.

Other aspects of interest in the audio-visual agreement are that it states that sexual harassment is a serious or very serious offence and that it adheres to the 1996 national intersectoral agreement on resolving disputes out of court (ES9909151F) and to the second national intersectoral agreement on continuing training (ES9907133F), or any pact that replaces it.