This new agreement unlocks a conflict that had lasted for more than two years, just when the validity of the previous one ended, on December 31, 2018. The mobilizations of workers before business headquarters or official bodies have starred in this period. Some 10,000 employees in the sector, the vast majority on the island of Tenerife, will benefit from the agreement. The union part highlights the “achievement of the historic claim” of the workers as it is the first Sectorial Trade Agreement in the Canary Islands that establishes the right to two days of effective weekly rest. This part highlights the work of Alejandro Ramos, General Director of Labor, to achieve this objective.
The unions began the negotiation with the intention that the Food Trade Agreement “would not continue to be the only sector in which workers would have to make up the established 20 minutes of daily rest.” Not only has this been achieved, says Manuel Fitas, from the Base Trade Unionists, but “it has become the first sectoral agreement in the Canarian trade in which two days of effective rest per week are established.”
“It is a historic milestone to have achieved the two weekly rest days”
As for the salary increases It has been agreed to link them to increases in Minimum Interprofessional Salary (SMI), that affects 90% of workers. They will be produced from the 15 euros established from September 1, 2021 to what the Government will determine for the years 2022 and 2023, until reaching 60% of the average salary, 1,049 euros in 14 payments; that is, 14,686 per year. The wording establishes that the Negotiating Commission will meet on January 15, 2022 to update the salary to the increases of the SMI and start again the negotiations of the next agreement, in which the unions will resume their claim to include 20 minutes of daily rest as effective work time, included in the working day, and that the staggered salary recognition of the different professional categories be established, which in 90% have been equalized in salary due to the increases in recent years of the SMI. Thus, assistants, cashiers, clerks, clerks, Section Chiefs and Managers receive the same salary in the agreement. The signing of the agreement, points out Sindicalistas de Base, “has shown that the unity of action of the unions is fundamental in the firm defense of the rights of the working class as a whole.”
Noemí Concepción Batista is the general secretary of FACCA and has been an integral part of the Negotiating Table. It is a voice authorized to give the version of the bosses. From that point of view, he understands that “the agreement reached for the signing of the collective agreement in the food sector puts an end to an arduous negotiation marked by the difficulty experienced in these last three years.” Concepción adds that “the context of current difficulty of the companies in the sector has conditioned the negotiation, especially due to the concurrence of various conjunctural factors.”
Among these circumstances, from Facca point out in the first place «to the significant increases in the Minimum Interprofessional Salary from 2019 to 2021 – it being more than foreseeable that this trend will continue in 2022 – which has increased labor costs and negatively affected job creation.
On the other hand, they argue that “in the health crisis caused by Covid-19, where although we highlight the essential role that our sector played, it cannot be forgotten that we are talking about a sector that includes not only supermarkets or stores (retail) but also distributors, importers and the tourism sector (tourists, restaurants, hotels …) whose sales and consumption are an essential part of the global business ». And they add: “By being paralyzed, it has negatively affected profitability.” ,
“We have suffered a lot, but the improvement of working conditions has been achieved”
Third and last, says the manager of Facca, “we must analyze the economic cost of adapting to prevention measures and the reduction of commercial margins in the face of the general crisis situation.” Noemí Concepción values that “despite what it may seem, the food sector’s retail trade has also suffered from the health crisis, a situation that has necessarily conditioned the negotiation to give rise to the agreement signed at the end.”
The employer’s spokesperson summarizes: “It is evident that an agreement was necessary – achieved thanks to the efforts of all the negotiators – both to close a difficult stage and to transmit security, tranquility and social peace to all affected parties.” The Facca spokesperson acknowledges that “in this sense, the key to unlocking the situation has been to improve the social conditions of working people.
Concepción reflects to conclude: “I want to reiterate the will of all parties to achieve the best possible agreement in the current circumstances, but also recognize the companies in the sector for their effort to take on the new weekly rest.” The agreement is under review pending its publication.
