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2 October, 2006
On 18 September, energy company Repsol signed a national framework agreement with the two relevant Spanish ICEM affiliates, FITEQA-CC.OO. and FIA-UGT. Present at the signing in Madrid were the President of Repsol, Antonio Brufau, and the two General Secretaries of the respective unions, FITEQA’s Joaquim González Muntadas, and FIA-UGT’s Antonio Deusa Pedrazo.
The agreement with Spain’s largest oil company includes specific protocols on work and family life, on the hiring of people with disabilities, on equal opportunities between men and women, and on victim protection when family violence occurs.
Affecting 15,000 Repsol workers in Spain, the agreement also contains a salary increase, a clause on maintaining purchasing power, and language on partial retirement at age 60 for some 1,000 workers. These workers will all be replaced by other workers, all with permanent contracts.
Many other issues are dealt with in the agreement, from a reduction in work time for about 7,000 workers, pension plans and training and education, to the recognition of seniority acquired while working under temporary work contracts. The agreement is valid for three years.
FITEQA’s Joaquim González Muntadas said in his speech at the signing that Spanish national labour federations CC.OO. and UGT have begun work on similar industrial relations issues in other regions where Repsol operates, referring specifically to Latin America, and to Argentina in particular. He added that he hopes Repsol engages in maximum collaboration in those efforts.
In a report in the Spanish publication El Mundo Bursatil, Repsol President Brufau stated, “The signing of this framework agreement is not only a reflection of our ability to dialogue, but also of the confidence we have in one another and of the transparency in the relationship between the management of the company and the union representatives.”