Guipuzcoa has reached a new Metal agreement, fairer and with more rights

Oct 15, 2020
The new agreement for the Metal sector in Guipuzcoa, (affecting over 40,000 people) has been signed today, after a decade without being renewed. This agreement has been seen a key push by ELA (48% representation) in recent weeks to considerably improved working conditions, wages and rights. Other trade unions have endorsed the contents already approved by ELA, showing the historic importance of the agreement.

This is going to mean an important wage increase and steps to bring stability, significantly reduce job insecurity and to move forward towards a metallurgy sector with greater gender equality.

The main contents of the agreement are:

  • Wage increases of 8.8% up to 2019 in the wage tables (also for daily and travel expenses, etc) and 0.8% in 2020 (in total, 9.6%). For 2021 and 2022 the CPI is guarantee for all the companies in the sector (without any refunds if the CPI is negative).

  • Derogation clause (protection against labour reform).

  • Indefinite validity of agreements (up to now, the agreement did not contain any extension of the validity of the agreement).

  • Subrogation for outsourced personnel in maintenance, warehouse and logistics, industrial cleaning and telephone installations. This gives working stability to thousands of workers outside the main company.

  • Hiring by Temporary Employment Agencies, maximum of one year (this period and the one carried out with temporary contracts are recognised as a year of service.)

  • Equality. The companies must provide more than the legally compulsory information and with compulsory deadlines.

  • Licences. The need for coexistence is eliminated to enjoy it.

  • Flexibility: notice goes from 3 to 5 days.

  • Article 49 is modified: collective wages modifications may only be applied by agreement.

  • Application priority of the Guipuzcoa agreement over the State agreement.

Today, the activation of the Equality Commission was also set forth, which was agreed on in the 2007-09 agreement, signed by Adegi, LAB, CCOO and UGT and which, 13 years later, has not recorded any activity.

ELA wants to show its great satisfaction. The contents agreed on make the Guipuzcoa Metal agreement into an undisputable benchmark. We remembered the thousands of metal workers, who over the past decade have had their working conditions frozen and who are now going to be able to substantially improve their everyday lives.