Legal war of the CEOE to stop the entry of Pimec into the agreements commission

Barcelona / MadridThe employers' war over representation returns to the courts. The Spanish employers' association CEOE, chaired by Antonio Garamendi, has appealed to the National Court against the entry of the Catalan company Pimec into the National Advisory Commission on Collective Bargaining Agreements (CCNCC). The Ministry of Labor had given ten days, starting April 10, for CEOE and Pimec to reach an agreement. a new distribution of the six seats in the CCNCC, which are currently occupied by the Garamendi employers' association (5) and Cepyme (1).

The appeal filed before the contentious-administrative chamber of the Court represents an extension of an appeal filed in 2024 against an order regulating the appointment of members of the convention committee, as has been advanced The Vanguard And the CEOE explains in AHORA. In the extension of this appeal, which is included in the new 2025 order, the CEOE is requesting precautionary measures to paralyze it "until the courts make a decision on whether Pimec should be included or excluded" from the commission. This commission has advisory functions in relation to the functional scope of collective agreements and carries out an observatory of collective bargaining.

The arguments put forward by the CEOE for the appeal are based on the fact that "according to current regulations, in order to hold a seat, organizations cannot be integrated into national organizations, and Pimec is included in Conpymes (Ministry of Business and Economic Development)." The Catalan employers' association refutes this argument, stating that "the regulations state that they cannot be integrated into the most representative national organizations, and Conpymes is not one of them." Furthermore, the CEOE adds as an argument that "proportionality is needed, and Pimec's activity in collective agreements is neither proportional nor extensive."

The employers' association chaired by Antoni Cañete explains to ARA that as soon as the April 10 order was published, Pimec sent a letter expressing its "willingness to engage in dialogue and consensus to agree on the seats," but they assert that they have received no response. "At Pimec, we find it surprising and worrying that an organization like the CEOE, instead of accepting a more plural, democratic, and realistic business representation, resorts to legal action to block it. SMEs represent more than 99% of the business community and 70% of employment, and their voices cannot continue to be ignored," they assert. The ten-day deadline ends this Wednesday, and now the ball is in the court of justice.

War over representation

The fight over the seats on the collective bargaining committee is just one of the ongoing battles in the field of representation. Last May, the Ministry of Labor recognized Pimec's right to occupy the seats. a seat on the Economic and Social Council (ESC), a state body with representation of the most representative employers' associations and unions, through a decree that recognizes the representation within the CES of the business organizations that have the status of being the most representative in the scope of an autonomous community.

In view of this milestone, the large employers' associations and the CES have already They raised their voices showing their discomfort, and Pimec's entry into the CES has been postponed. Almost a year later, everything is still up in the air: members must be renewed because their mandates have expired, and the change of chairs is expected to take place before the summer.