Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Working Conditions (Hotels and Restaurants) Convention, 1991 (No. 172) - Spain (Ratification: 1993)

Article 8 of the Convention. Application of the Convention. The Committee notes the adoption of the resolution of 20 September 2010 by the General Directorate of Labour to approve National Agreement IV for the hotel sector (ALEH), which extends the validity of the previous agreement up to 31 December 2014. It notes that this Agreement contains two new chapters, one on effective equality for women and men, and the other on the prevention of risks at work and occupational health and safety. The Committee also notes the most recent amendments made by Royal Legislative Decree No. 1/1995 issuing the Workers’ Charter, including Act No. 3/2012 of 6 July 2012 on urgent measures to reform the labour market. The Committee notes in particular that under section 84(2) of the Workers’ Charter, enterprise agreements are henceforth given priority in their application in relation, among other matters, to wage rates, hours of work and paid annual leave, over sectoral collective agreements, whether the latter are applicable at the national level, or in an autonomous community, or are more restricted in scope.

In this regard, the Committee notes the comments of the General Union of Workers (UGT), received on 4 September 2013 and forwarded to the Government on 23 September 2013. The UGT indicates in the first place that the slight fall in unemployment in the country in the second quarter of 2013 is largely attributable to the reduction of unemployment in the hotel and agricultural sectors, which are both sectors with significant seasonal labour market variations. However, the UGT indicates that Act No. 3/2012 has had serious consequences in the hotel sector, which is already a precarious sector. With the absolute primacy that the Workers’ Charter affords to enterprise agreements, several enterprises, with a view to reducing costs, have adopted severe measures which have resulted in dismissals and the deterioration of conditions of work. The UGT adds that, together with recent labour reforms, occupational categories have been abolished to the detriment of occupational groups which have not yet been determined. For this reason, the chapter of the ALEH respecting occupational classification was only in force up to 31 December 2010 and the signatories have agreed to extend negotiations on this point. The Committee also notes the comments of the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (CC.OO) received on 30 August 2013 and forwarded to the Government on 16 September 2013. In comparison with sections 6 and 7 of Royal Decree No. 1561/1995 on special working hours schemes, which allows the granting of weekly rest in the hotel sector to be modified by collective agreement or agreement with workers’ representatives, the CC.OO indicates that section 41(1) of the Workers’ Charter, as amended by Act No. 3/2012, grants employers unilateral power to substantially modify working conditions for economic, technical, organizational or production-related reasons.

The Committee notes that, in reply to the comments of the UGT and the CC.OO, the Government refers to section 82(3) of the Workers’ Charter, under the terms of which, for economic, technical, organizational or production-related reasons, the parties to a collective agreement may decide to set aside certain clauses respecting conditions of work, and indicates that employers cannot therefore unilaterally modify conditions of work. The Government adds that the purpose of the most recent legislative amendments is to enable the adaptation of conditions of work to the specific circumstances of each enterprise, without the intention of reducing judicial control, which has not been eliminated. With regard to the ALEH, the Government indicates that the reform introduced by Act No. 3/2012 has the fundamental characteristic of the abolition of occupational categories with a view to promoting functional mobility. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing general information on the application of the Convention in practice and to specify the manner in which workers in hotels and restaurants are affected by the most recent amendments to the Workers’ Charter.