The national fashion retail agreement is on hold. Today’s meeting between the employers, the Retail Textile Spain Association (Arte), and the unions ended without progress in the negotiation, according to sources close to the process. Both parties have scheduled a new meeting in October, awaiting the return of UGT to the table.
Arte, made up of major fashion retailers (such as Inditex, H&M, Tendam, or Primark), has presented proposals on labor contracts and organization of professional groups at the negotiating table. Now, the unions will analyze the proposal and have committed to sending a counterproposal.
The next meeting of the negotiating table, which will become the first national labor agreement for the fashion retail sector, will take place after the summer holidays on October 1.
In this meeting, UGT could rejoin, as they left the negotiating table last January in protest of the presence of the Fetico union. The employers consider it «essential to have all union representations» in the negotiation of the agreement.
Last week, the National Court ended the conflict between UGT and Fetico regarding the legitimacy of the latter at the negotiating table. The court ruled in favor of Fetico, validating its presence in the negotiations and ending UGT’s lawsuit.
CCOO and Fetico’s stance
In a statement, CCOO expressed regret that the employers continue with their minimum proposals without understanding the demands of the employees regarding professional classification or hiring.
The union pointed out that Arte proposes five professional groups and insists on classifying store managers differently based on the store’s size. Additionally, they propose an entry-level professional group that must wait 18 months before advancing to the next group, only counting the actual time spent in the lower group.
CCOO believes that the same job position cannot be divided into two groups solely based on store size, and that the 18-month period is entirely disproportionate.
After the meeting, the union stated that they will prepare a counterproposal on hiring and classification that reflects the reality of the workers. «The employers must realize that there need to be minimum hiring standards that are dignified for the workers,» they emphasized.
Fetico, which joined the table following the National Court’s ruling, mentioned in a statement that the employers also propose a distinction between store managers depending on the number of employees under their supervision, placing level 3 in stores with fewer than 10 employees and level 2 in stores with more than 10 employees. They also suggested an 18-month effective service period for moving from group 5 to group 4.
The union stressed the need to find a «new formula» that accurately reflects the differing responsibilities based on workplace needs and the positions involved. Additionally, they disagreed with tying the term «effective service» to professional classification.
Fetico highlighted the importance of including a commitment to «permanent and quality employment» in the agreement, acknowledging that the employers’ proposal is «far from their intentions.» They reiterated the call for a new agreement that not only considers market needs but also regulates all aspects in a simple and practical manner.
Negotiations for what could become the first national textile agreement in Spain are still in the early stages. After the initial salary proposals from Arte, CCOO, and UGT, negotiations stalled for two months. It wasn’t until April that the unions resumed negotiations, which have not yet addressed salary discussions.