CCOO and UGT want to drop the salaries of workers in the hotel and catering trade by 50%

Oct 23, 2017

The two trade unions have disputed the I Framework Agreement of the Hotel and Catering Trade of the Basque Autonomous Community, signed by ELA, LAB and the Basque employers Confebask and the Hotel and Catering Trade Federation. Two days before the objection, signed on the 18th of September, Loli García, general secretary of CCOO in the Basque Country, stated in the press “this agreement will not be disputed” and that the report of an objection “is a falsehood”. Some time previous to this, ELA and LAB had already announced that following the State control policy, the trade unions of CCOO and UGT were intending to dispute the I Framework Agreement of the Hotel and Catering Trade. By virtue of this agreement, priority was given to the application of the collective bargaining agreements signed in the Basque County to the workers in the Hotel and Catering sector, as well as protecting their working conditions against any cut backs that could come from Madrid.

If this objection were to succeed, it would cause serious harm to the workers in the Hotel and Catering Trade in the Basque Autonomous Community. In certain cases 50% of their wages would be in danger, 8,200 euros less per year and another 50 hours of work.

The trade unions signing the agreement, ELA and LAB, hold a representation of 77.48%; CCOO and UGT intend to take over a representation that the workers of Euskal Herria have not given them to impose some conditions negotiated in another area.

The aim is clear: to monopolise trade union representation, without worrying about the working conditions of the workers. At the same time, these trade unions are opting for identity, as they intend to homogenise the working conditions throughout the state, although the homogenisation might be worse, since in this way they defend the State framework. It is scandalous that this deterioration in working conditions has arisen at the instance of these trade unions and not as a business initiative.

The Basque Government is seeking trade union alliances with CCOO and UGT, because they share the same goals: supplanting the trade union representation given by the workers. This alliance emphasises the lengths to which the self-ruling vindication of the executive from Gasteiz will go to, acknowledging the representation to the trade unions that offer them social peace, although they deny the workers in Euskal Herria their own decision-making scope.

Self-rule is not applicable if collective bargaining by the workers of Euskal Herria is used to deny their right to negotiate their living conditions. This allegation shows that from Madrid they are working against any area that means the right to decide and consequently, the Lehendakari should be defending the rights of the workers and giving a firm response to these attacks.

ELA and LAB will defend the validity of the Framework Agreement in the courts, at the same time as it is calling Basque workers to mobilise themselves to defend their working conditions. We cannot let them take away our conditions.