The Ministry of Public Works blames the debate on reducing working hours for the decline in collective agreements.

BarcelonaCollective bargaining is the forum where representatives of workers and companies meet to negotiate all aspects of working conditions, from wages and holidays to working hours. These agreements are formalized through collective bargaining agreements, a mechanism that, ironically, experienced a 16.89% drop in Catalonia last year. The employers' association Foment del Treball has indicated that in 2025, a total of 310 agreements were registered in the Principality, affecting 611,698 employees and 64,153 companies. This data is included in its latest report. Labor market and collective bargaining report, which was published this Thursday.

For the business organization, the decline is not explained solely by the usual dynamics of collective bargaining agreement renewals. It also blames the debate on reducing working hours—a measure that ended defeated in Congress by the votes against it from Juntos- having negatively impacted the pace of collective bargaining and hindered discussions. The director of the labor relations and social affairs department at Fomento, Yésika Aguilar, reiterated that her organization has always maintained that working hours should be agreed upon in each individual collective bargaining agreement, and not through a general rule for all sectors, as the Second Vice President of the Spanish Government and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, has consistently proposed.

At the national level, a total of 3,366 collective bargaining agreements were registered up to December 31, 2025, affecting 10.1 million workers and 1.08 million companies, 8.11% fewer than the previous year and a drop six percentage points smaller than that of Catalonia. In Catalonia, these collective bargaining agreements stipulated an average salary increase of 3.18%, three-tenths of a percent higher than in 2024, while in Spain the agreed salary increase was 3.53%. This means that the rise in remuneration exceeded inflation, which closed the year at 2.5% in Catalonia and 2.9% nationally. Furthermore, Aguilar emphasized that the working hours of Catalan employees also decreased by 1.6%, averaging 1,720 hours per year.

Fewer layoffs, but more affected

The Ministry of Public Works' report focuses on workforce adjustment plans (EREs). During 2025, 521 plans were initiated or resolved, 60 fewer than the previous year (-10.3%), but they affected 21.4% more workers, reaching a total of 19,694. In this regard, the report highlights the 57% increase (3,271 more) in employees affected by mass layoffs.