The stevedore unions and Anesco reached an agreement on Thursday on the basic lines of the future new agreement, so the port strikes planned for this week and the next have been called off. It was just a matter of time. Following the individual agreements signed last week between the stevedores and the companies that were most inclined to reach them, Anesco was left in a position of weakness, which has led to this agreement, putting an end to a conflict that broke out almost five months ago in Spanish ports following the liberalization of the sector, undertaken by the Government to meet the demands of the European Commission.
The agreement reached includes the subrogation of the current stevedores; a step prior to the negotiation of the new collective agreement, which will start next week. In exchange, the unions (Coordinadora, UGT, CCOO, CGT and CIG) guarantee stability in the ports, with no more strikes. "This is good news for the stevedores and for the whole sector," assured the union representative Antolín Goya, leader of the Coordinadora de Trabajadores del Mar, the stevedores' largest union.
"Anesco will guarantee the protection of 100% of the stevedoring jobs and the unions have ratified the commitments made on 29 March," said the unions and Anesco in a joint statement. The agreement foresees a transitional period to optimise the workforce in all ports through voluntary pre-retirements, a 10% reduction of stevedore salaries and the reorganization of the workers.
Both parties have left other issues pending, given the lack of consensus at the moment, namely the permanence of the companies in the new Port Employment Centres and the management of the training and contracting of the personnel. These will be discussed during the negotiation of the sector's new labour agreement.
The port strikes have lasted for almost a month, and this, according to the Ministry of Public Works, has caused economic losses totalling over 150 million Euro and the diversion of traffic to other foreign ports.
Source: elpais.com
