Inditex’s federal strike for this Saturday is called off after the agreement reached between the multinational and the trade unions
- The federal strike of Inditex store workers has been called off this Friday afternoon, as Business Insider España has learned exclusively, after the agreement reached last night between the multinational and the unions UGT and CCOO that enables a minimum wage for all its employees.
- The guaranteed fixed salary table will be divided into 4 sections ranging from 18,000 euros per year in the lowest category to 24,500 euros in the highest.
- However, the salary of all store workers is also composed of a variable part which has also been improved: it is composed of 1.4% on monthly sales and the annual incentive recovered of 1,000 euros.
The federal strike of Inditex store workers called by the CGT union for this Saturday, February 11, has been called off this Friday, according to Business Insider Spain, after the agreement reached last night between the multinational and the unions UGT and CCOO.
Although the rally had gained support in recent days and up to 6 Spanish cities along with Madrid had joined -Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, Logroño and Valladolid-, the agreement reached between the Galician company and other union forces have overturned the call.
Likewise, it was to be this afternoon, around 7:00 p.m., when the CGT communicated via press conference the final decision to call off the strike.
An internal message among workers and that this medium has been able to visualize, the union explained that now was the time to see the implementation of what has been achieved in the stores and clarify doubts: “We must see the big picture of all this.
However, these sources make it clear that this agreement at Inditex has come about “only because of the struggle of the sales clerks in the street and not because of these meetings between UGT and CCOO”.
It is not minor either that these different union channels have evidenced a war without quarter between the different union forces. It is worth explaining that the strike called for tomorrow did not include any of the unions present at yesterday’s meeting, nor was the convenor in the negotiation. This is unusual in these negotiations.
The origin of the conflict: the girls of Inditex
To find the origin of the conflict we have to go to the heart of the multinational: La Coruña.
There, in October, different movements began to take shape with the support of the CIG, the majority union in Galicia. This group of stores, known within the group as the girls -because of their enormous female presence- explicit a comparative grievance of these workers with respect to employees in other areas.
All this resulted in the strike of Inditex sales clerks in La Coruña, “the most massive” in its history, amid shouts of “Naomi Campbell, where is she? It was last November 25
And when it seemed that the positions were insurmountable with the company, Galicia won the pulse and last December, the Galician workers achieved a wage increase of 382 euros per month over the next 2 years.
Sources linked to UGT explained that the warnings to the textile group that “the contagion and conflict effect” after what happened in Galicia could be replicated in other territories. And it happened.
The labor fire began to spread to Madrid and other parts of Spain, where another union, the CGT, decided to follow the path taken by Galicia, and hence the celebration of this Saturday’s strike.
But in the midst of this, Inditex signed in November with UGT and CCOO a surprising state agreement that did not even convince the UGT itself at the provincial level.
Everything enabled the creation of a negotiating table between the company and these 2 unions that have culminated in what they call a “historic agreement”.
What have Inditex and the unions achieved?
The agreement reached at 21:00 this past Thursday and is materialized in a minimum wage that will homogenize the salary conditions for all employees of the group’s stores in Spain.
Specifically, it is a minimum divided into 4 sections, as advanced by Business Insider Spain and that will be effective for all wage scales that coexist in their stores Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Zara Home or Stradivarius, Pull and Bear and Bershka.
All in all, the agreement represents an average increase of 20%, although the increase varies significantly depending on the geographical area: the territories with the lowest salaries will experience a 40% increase, more than 6,000 euros.
The agreement between Inditex and the unions establishes a fixed annual minimum wage for all store workers, which is formalized as follows:
- Group I: 18,000 per year: for sales clerks and cashiers with less than 18 months’ seniority.
- Group II: 20,000 euros per year: for sales assistants and cashiers with 18 months to 4 years of seniority.
- Group III: 22,000 euros per year: for sales assistants and cashiers with 4 years of seniority or more.
- Group IV: 24,500 euros per year: for store managers and central cashiers.
However, the salary of all store workers is made up of a fixed salary and a variable salary, which is established according to monthly sales, which has now also been set at 1.4% for all brands – historically, Zara had the highest: 1.2% – in addition to the annual incentive of 1,000 euros per year.
Nor is the achievement of social benefits for its store employees -previously only contemplated for factory and logistics personnel- minor. These benefits include, for example, 450 euros for the birth of a child or 200 euros for school supplies.
These social measures were also a historical demand due to the female weight of its store personnel: 76% of the working personnel of the entire group are women.