Social Pacts in Spain: Interconfederal Agreement on coverage of “Vacíos”

PERIOD: April 1997 (for 5 years, starting 1 January 1998)

SIGNATORY PARTIES: Employers’ organisations (CEOE and its small and medium enterprise affiliate, CEPYME) and workers’ organisations (CC.OO. and UGT)

GOALS OF THE PACT: Filling the regulatory gaps left by the labour ordinances which set terms and conditions of employment on a sectoral basis until they were repealed in 1980.

BACKGROUND:

• The 1994 labour market reform gave a boost to this process, stipulating that all existing ordinances should be repealed by the end of 1994 (exceptionally until 1995).
• In the majority of cases, collective agreements regulating terms and conditions have now been negotiated in the place of these ordinances.
• However, it is currently estimated that there are still no regulatory controls in around 22 sectors, employing a total of 800,000 employees (commercial courier services, urban land and property workers, hospital services, the dried fruit industry, internal port traffic workers, the funeral services industry, professional musicians and actors).
• In the majority of these cases, it has not been possible to negotiate an agreement to replace the ordinance as there are no legitimate bargaining parties in the industry concerned.
• In those circumstances, existing collective agreements in other industries may be extended to cover the industry in question, or the government may issue a regulation of employment for that industry.

MATTERS AGREED:

• The agreement set out a range of regulations, which will apply in the absence of any legal or agreed regulations in these areas as at 31 December 1997. The areas covered by the agreement are: job classification, promotion of employees, salary structures, disciplinary procedures.

FOLLOW-UP AND MONITORING SYSTEMS:

• Parties to the agreement have decided to set up a bipartite commission made up of representatives of the workers and employers to monitor the application and interpretation of the pact.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Miguel Martinez Lucio: “Spain in the 1990s: Strategic Concertation” in S. Berger and H. Compston (ed.): Policy Concertation and Social Partnership in Western Europe (New York and Oxford, Bergham Books) pp.265-277.

Sofía A. Perez: “Social Pacts in Spain” in G. Fajertag and P. Rochet (ed.): Social pacts in Europe: New Dynamics, (ETUI, OSE) pp. 343-363.

“Social partners agree further labour market reform” in European Industrial Relations Review, May 1997, No 280.

“New Labour market reform” in European Industrial Relations Review, April 2001, No 327.

Full text of the agreement