Understanding Collective Agreements in the Workers’ Statute
Collective Agreements in the Workers’ Statute
Collective agreements are agreements resulting from negotiation between representatives of workers and employers, freely adopted by virtue of their collective autonomy.
Contracting Parties
The contracting parties are representatives of workers and employers who possess general bargaining capacity and specific legitimation.
General Bargaining Capacity
A) Workers:
- The works council, staff representatives, and legally constituted unions, federations, and confederations.
B) Employers:
- The employer and legally constituted business associations, federations, and confederations.
Legitimation for Bargaining
1. Collective Agreements Above the Company Level
The following can be part of the initial negotiation:
A) Workers’ Side (According to Article 87.2 of the Statute):
- a) Most representative trade unions at the state level (UGT and CCOO).
- b) Most representative trade unions in the Autonomous Community (LAB in the Basque Country).
- c) Trade unions that, while not the most representative, have at least 10% representation of members of committees or delegates in the relevant geographical and functional area.
B) Employers’ Side (According to Article 87.3 of the Statute):
- Business associations in the geographical and functional scope of the agreement that have 10% of employers who employ workers.
2. Agreements at Company or Lower Levels
A) Employers’ Side:
- The employer or their representatives are legitimately entitled.
B) Workers’ Side:
- The works council, staff representatives, and union representatives (if they hold a majority) negotiate with the employer, depending on who initiated the collective bargaining.
3. Agreements for Specific Groups of Workers
- Only for a group of workers in the same professional category or workplace with the same qualifications. Representatives are elected in an assembly.
4. Collective Agreements for Groups of Companies
- For groups of companies with similar characteristics and belonging to the same financial group.
Bargaining Units
A) The Principle of Free Choice:
The parties decide the scope of each agreement, including its personal, functional, and territorial boundaries:
- The functional scope refers to the branch or sector of economic activity of the company.
- The territorial scope refers to the geographic area (state, Autonomous Community, interprovincial, provincial, or local).
- The personal scope indicates that different groups can negotiate separately, provided there is no discrimination against others.
B) Limits to Freedom of Choice:
- If the agreement is above the company level but inferior, certain materials cannot be negotiated (Article 84.2).
Framework Agreements
Framework Agreements establish rules for negotiating collective agreements. The statewide framework agreement is the exception to the prohibition of competition. Its features are:
- It is not a collective agreement itself, as it does not regulate working conditions but rather the conditions of collective bargaining (dispute settlement rules, etc.).
- There are two types: proper (regulates future agreements) and improper or mixed (for lower-level negotiations).
- Territorial scope: Autonomous Community or state.
- Negotiated by the most representative trade unions and employer associations.
Efficacy of the Collective Agreement
Collective agreements apply to all employers and employees included within their scope for the entire period of their validity. It applies to employment contracts, current and prior to the statute, if the agreement establishes a retroactive basis. It impacts active workers and those no longer active (retirees).