The difficult negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement for the hospitality industry in Mallorca and the rest of the Balearics are now scheduled to conclude on June 26, more than four weeks after the original deadline.
For the most important agreement in the Balearics given the number of workers affected - around 180,000 in the hotel, restaurant and nightlife sectors - there are differences not just between unions and employers but also between the unions.
The two largest unions in the Balearics, the CCOO and the UGT, participate in the negotiations. The UGT is the larger of the two and has the senior role. On the employers' side, the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation takes the lead role. As has been noted previously, the federation and the UGT could in theory strike a deal that all other parties would have to accept.
That is most unlikely to happen, especially as the UGT has been the more demanding of the two unions, and its stance has upset the CCOO. The calling of protest action has been one reason. Although the CCOO says it will join the demonstration planned for June 6 outside the federation's offices in Palma, the upset arises from not having been informed in advance of the schedule for action. The CCOO is also critical of the UGT for its refusal to increase the number of negotiation meetings in order to try and reach agreement as soon as possible.
The UGT has indicated that it may call strikes in July. Héctor Gómez, president of the CCOO's services federation in the Balearics, says his union has not totally dismissed the idea of strike action, but describes this as a "last resort". He also feels that the announcement of possible strikes was "populist" and doubts the threat will be carried out. "The UGT services federation is divided on this issue and does not have the support to carry it out. Employers, workers, and unions lose money, and we must add the organisational strain this would entail. We must all be socially responsible."
Since the UGT announcement, there hasn't been contact between the two unions. Gómez says his counterpart, Jose García Relucio, hasn't been in touch with him. "I haven't spoken to him, nor has anyone from UGT contacted us. This lack of communication is very detrimental to union unity required to negotiate an agreement of this importance." The UGT, he believes, is "using workers' rights as a political weapon, not only against employers, but also against the CCOO and even internally within its own union".
The main stumbling blocks in the negotiations concern pay and the working week. While the two unions may have their differences, it's not as if Gómez is about to let the employers off the hook.
He refutes statements by the vice-president of the hoteliers federation, Maria José Aguiló, who has said the unions are confusing revenue with profit when demanding salary increases. "They can't deceive us. Hotel profits over the last three years have been stratospheric. Just compare pay rises with the room rates. It's time to share these with the workers."