Trade union strategy for the development of the labour reform

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In October 1997, the CC.OO and UGT trade union confederation presented a joint document containing their strategy for the application and development of the labour reform agreed in April.

On 8 October 1997, the CC.OO and UGT trade union confederations presented a joint document containing the unions' strategy for the development of the labour reform agreements concluded by the social partners in April 1997 (ES9706211F). In this document, the unions demand that the Government fulfil the responsibilities and commitments arising from the three agreements. They furthermore consider that collective bargaining is crucial to the application and development of the labour reform and state that they are ready to enter into new bargaining processes .

The unions consider that the Government is not fulfilling its commitments. In the area of social protection, according to the agreements, the Government had a three-month period to put into effect new rights relating to training contracts and part-time contracts. However, more than five months have gone by and the Government has still taken no action in this respect. Another criticism by the unions is that the Government is avoiding its commitments on working time. The agreements urged the Government to open consultations with the social partners in order to reduce overtime and promote job creation. Instead, the Government has taken unilateral measures without seeking the consensus of the employers' organisations and trade unions.

The unions thus call for the Government to respect the agreements that were reached and to meet its commitments. At present, no reply has been received from the Government.

The unions consider that collective bargaining is crucial for the correct application and development of the April agreements. The objectives are a change from the business culture of temporary employment, deregulation and individualisation, to a culture of negotiation, participation and the development of collective labour relations. The main priorities of the trade unions in collective bargaining are:

• promoting the creation of stable jobs with commitments to reduce temporary employment and to convert temporary contracts into permanent ones;

• establishing the grounds for temporary contracts, defining contingent activities and avoiding the use of the temporary contracts for permanent activities;

• greater trade union control of the reasons for terminating contracts, and greater participation in the search for alternative solutions to termination and measures to palliate the impact on those affected; and

• promoting the structuring and articulation of collective bargaining through nation-wide sectoral collective agreements, enriching the content of existing agreements and promoting new agreements in the sectors that do not have them.

Finally, the trade unions have announced their intention to enter into two new bargaining processes with the employers' organisations and the Government. The present inequalities based on sex, age, race or country of origin, plus the high rate of industrial accidents, make it increasingly urgent to establish a commitment on equal opportunities and health and safety at work.