In September 1999, a new agreement covering pay and employment matters for civil servants was signed by the Spanish government and the CC.OO and CSI-CSIF trade unions. The UGT union, however, has rejected the deal.
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In September 1999, a new agreement covering pay and employment matters for civil servants was signed by the Spanish government and the CC.OO and CSI-CSIF trade unions. The UGT union, however, has rejected the deal.
On 24 September 1999, the Spanish government concluded with trade unions a new agreement for civil servants employed by all parts of the public administration. It includes some of the unions' demands laid down in a common platform established between the CC.OO and UGT confederations on 17 May 1999. However, the agreement has been signed only by CC.OO and the civil service union confederation, CSI-CSIF. UGT has rejected the deal because it considers that the government's proposals do not meet the demands set out in the platform. The unity of action between UGT and CC.OO in the civil service has thus been broken.
The common platform's demands focused on three basic aspects:
pay. The platform demanded a 3.6% wage increase for the next year - made up of 0.6% to compensate for the increase in inflation over forecasts in the previous year, a 2% rise already provided for, and 1% to recuperate purchasing power lost in recent years. Furthermore, the government was urged to introduce a wage guarantee clause by law;
employment. The platform sought to eliminate the 25% ceiling for the proportion of vacancies to be filled in the public administration, to ban the use of temporary employment agency staff and to eradicate all precarious employment within three years; and
working time. The platform outlined a path towards working time reduction, addressing the 35-hour week and a commitment to a progressive reduction of overtime and extra working.
The agreement signed in September provides for: an additional fund of ESP 13 billion (1.14% of total paybill) to supplement the 2% wage increase previously laid down; the elimination of the 25% ceiling on the proportion of vacancies to be filled for municipalities with under 50,000 inhabitants (and also in local police bodies); and a commitment to initiate the bargaining process for a new collective agreement for civil servants employed by the central administration, to replace the current agreement dating from 1994.
CC.OO and CSI-CSIF consider that the agreement is positive since it allows for the relaunch of the social dialogue in the civil service which was broken off over the 1997 wage freeze (ES9702201N), and for the recuperation of a part of the purchasing power lost during recent years. They assess positively the elimination of the 25% ceiling for filling vacancies in municipalities with under 50,000 inhabitants, since these municipalities employ the majority of local administration workers.
UGT considers that the agreement does not satisfy the common platform's demands, as the agreed wage increase is not enough to recuperate the lost purchasing power, and other important demands have been omitted: ending precarious employment and the increasing externalisation of services; the legal wage guarantee clause; working time reduction; provisions on vocational and continuous training; occupational health measures; and transfers to regional governments. Finally, UGT considers it unsatisfactory that the 25% ceiling has not been eliminated for the whole public administration.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (1999), New agreement concluded for civil service, article.
