Difficult 1999 bargaining round opens

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The collective bargaining agenda in Spain in 1999 reveals the greatest disagreements amongst the social partners for a number of years, especially on two topics - a new form of part-time employment contract and pay increases.

In line with the normal routine for the beginning of the year, the social partners in Spain have drawn up their proposals for the forthcoming 1999 collective bargaining round. In general, the proposals follow the same pattern as in 1998, but it seems that in 1999 there are greater differences amongst the partners and clearly divergent positions on two important topics - a new form of part-time employment contract and pay increases. Everything indicates that collective bargaining in 1999, which should renew around half the existing collective agreements, will be more problematic than was initially expected.

For the trade unions, the focus of collective bargaining is still employment, as it was in 1998 (ES9712137F). In 1999, both the CC.OO and UGT confederations wish to deal with this topic more thoroughly, paying special attention to three aspects: secure employment, shorter working hours and regulation of temporary employment agencies. Action is already being taken in these areas, but this year the unions want to focus on them more intensely. However, the unions face an important obstacle: the CEOE employers' organisation is recommending that in this bargaining round its members should reject the new type of part-time employment contract that was recently agreed by the trade unions and the government (ES9811289F). The disagreements between the trade unions and the employers on this question - and on the process of social dialogue in general - are leading to a great deal of friction and may have repercussions on collective bargaining at several levels.

The second important obstacle concerns pay. CC.OO and UGT initially disagreed on some points of this topic and reached an agreement only at the last minute. CC.OO wished to follow the same line as in recent years, accepting wage moderation in exchange for improvements in employment. UGT, by contrast, maintained that the time had come to demand a higher pay increase in order to gain some benefits from a healthy economy in terms of a widespread increase in purchasing power. These initial differences between the unions - which in terms of the pay increase demanded represented 1% - have been now been resolved. An agreed position was finally reached, although the possibility of wages continuing to create tension between the two unions during negotiations cannot be ruled out (ES9901295F).

For its part, CEOE's attitude on pay has hardened. The employers' organisation recommends an increase of 1.1%, which is the projected rate of European inflation for the coming year. This is a considerably lower increase than the official inflation forecast for Spain, at 1.8%. The employers' organisation claims that the European figures should be used as a frame of reference to contribute to the process of convergence of the Spanish economy, although it is willing to accept higher increases if they are compensated by significant increases in productivity. The trade unions feel that this proposal is unacceptable because it involves a loss of purchasing power in a current economic situation that is clearly favourable to companies.