UGT and CCOO had long been proposing to "decentralize" the main May Day demonstration and change Madrid as the location, as explained by the general secretary of CCOO, Unai Sordo, this Monday. Finally, they have opted for Malaga, but it has not escaped anyone's notice that it coincides with the start of the election campaign in Andalusia. In fact, it is taken for granted that the socialist candidate for Andalusia and until recently first vice-president of the Spanish government, María Jesús Montero, will attend. "It has nothing to do with the elections [...] [The mobilization] cannot be improvised overnight," the unions indicated, thus ruling out the idea of a conscious coincidence. The choice of the Andalusian city is due to the fact that it experiences firsthand the problem of access to housing, as they explained.

UGT and CCOO had been planning to "decentralize" the main May Day demonstration and change Madrid as the location for some time, as explained by the general secretary of CCOO, Unai Sordo, this Monday. Finally, they have opted for Malaga, but it has not escaped anyone's notice that it coincides with the start of the electoral campaign in Andalusia. In fact, it is taken for granted that the socialist candidate for Andalusia and until recently the first vice-president of the Spanish government, María Jesús Montero, will attend. "It has nothing to do with the elections [...] [The mobilization] cannot be improvised from one day to the next," the unions have indicated, thus ruling out the idea of a conscious coincidence. The choice of the Andalusian city is due to the fact that it experiences the problem of access to housing firsthand, as they have explained.

The two majority unions, CCOO and UGT, have shown unity with concrete proposals on dismissals, housing, part-time contracts, and social dialogue and collective bargaining. This Tuesday, the two organizations have presented a joint plan around these matters that provides a boost for union action, especially on the eve of May Day, but which also serves as a "transmission belt" for those concerns affecting workers that, in the opinion of the union organizations, the political agenda marked by tension is not addressing. "We are facing an initiative [union] that has few precedents," indicated the Secretary of Union Action for CCOO, Javier Pacheco, at a press conference.

The Catalan government needs a budget to function properly. Currently, it is still operating under the extended 2023 budget, which severely limits the administration's room for maneuver and leaves it short of approximately €1.5 billion. This amount remains unused because new expenses or projects cannot be included due to the lack of a budget. This sum is equivalent to the annual allocation of departments such as the Department of Business and Labor or the Department of Universities and Research. The truth is, citizens deserve a government that operates with a budget that reflects the country's current needs, not figures that were based on the reality of three years ago. Furthermore, having a budget would allow the government to make the most of the resources generated by record tax revenues thanks to economic growth. This includes both taxes in which Catalonia participates, such as personal income tax (IRPF), and those collected directly and transferred to the government (inheritance and property transfer taxes) under the current financing system.

In 2025, each Spanish worker performed 5.6 hours of unpaid overtime per week, according to an analysis presented this Monday by the CCOO economic team. This study concludes that €141 per week, equivalent to €7,355 per year, went unpaid in wages and social security contributions for employees due to this unpaid work. This represents 2.49 million unpaid overtime hours, affecting a total of 441,000 people, or 2.3% of the salaried population. In Catalonia, workers put in 495,000 hours of overtime each week, making it the second-highest autonomous community after Madrid (582,000 hours). In fact, Catalonia has 91,000 salaried workers who worked more hours per week than stipulated in their contracts for the same pay, also ranking second. Even so, in terms of the proportion of the total salaried workforce, it fell to fourth place, with 2.7% of Catalans working unpaid overtime. According to the CCOO union, using data from the Labor Force Survey (EPA) of the National Institute of Statistics (INE), there are 928,000 people who regularly worked more hours than agreed upon, without any data indicating that these hours were paid or subject to social security contributions. Within this figure, the report emphasizes, there are 568,000 workers with a 40-hour workweek who regularly worked more hours, "which, a priori, would violate labor legislation regarding working hours." The union estimates that the 2.49 million unpaid overtime hours averaged weekly in 2025 would equate to an annual labor cost of €3.243 billion that companies and public administrations failed to pay workers. This sum includes not only wages but also social security contributions and direct taxes that are no longer being collected by the Tax Agency. Education, the most affected sector

By sector, those with the highest volume of unpaid overtime were education (440,000 hours), transportation and storage (270,000), manufacturing (255,000), and retail (217,000). The teachers' union also has the most workers affected by this labor issue, with 72,000 people working more hours per week than agreed upon without any additional compensation. In contrast, if we look at the incidence, the electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply sector and the financial and insurance sector have the highest percentage of employees working unpaid overtime, at 5.6% in both cases. Education ranks third, with 4.9% of its employees in this situation. On the other hand, the sectors with the highest average intensity of unpaid overtime are transportation (8.3 hours), agriculture and livestock farming (7.1 hours), and construction (6.5 hours).

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The last time Pedro Sánchez ratified an increase in the national minimum wage (SMI) was in 2020, from the Moncloa Palace, following an agreement with the major unions, CCOO and UGT, and the Spanish employers' associations, CEOE and Cepyme. Six years later, Sánchez has once again presided over another minimum wage increase. This time, he did so from the Ministry of Labor, alongside the Minister, Yolanda Díaz (Sumar), and the two union leaders, Unai Sordo (CCOO) and Pepe Álvarez (UGT), but without the employers' associations, with whom Sánchez did not hesitate to distance himself. The Spanish president criticized the employers' associations for withdrawing from the agreement to raise the SMI to €1,221 per month by 2026. "Where are the employers?" the Spanish president asked this Monday at the signing ceremony for the new increase. "It is unacceptable that in a context of economic prosperity, those earning the minimum wage are scrutinized while those earning a lot of money are not," Sánchez said. On the eve of negotiations between unions and employers to update the current agreement for employment and collective bargaining (AENC), the Spanish president endorsed the position. "Pay them more!""From Joe Biden four years ago. "Let them pay more," he said. "Let no one tell us that salaries can't be raised when profits grow, when the economy is advancing," Sánchez reiterated.

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Last year, 109 workers died in work-related accidents in Catalonia, a 22.5% increase compared to the previous year. Data from the Observatory of Labor and the Production Model sheds light on the trend of workplace accidents in 2025, a year in which the number of victims reached its highest level in the last 14 years. One has to go back to 2011, when 113 people died, to find a higher figure.

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In 2026, an estimated 301,884 cases of cancer will be detected in Spain, 166,764 in men and 133,120 in women, according to data from the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM). Of these, approximately 5% would never have occurred without exposure to carcinogens in the workplace. The CCOO union published the report this Tuesday. Workplace cancer, the leading cause of death at workCoinciding with World Cancer Day, the organization states, according to its own calculations, that this year there will be 15,999 cancer cases and 6,126 deaths from this disease attributable to workplace exposures in Spain. Cancer is the leading cause of work-related deaths in the European Union, accounting for 53% of all work-related deaths each year, compared to 28% for cardiovascular diseases and 6% for respiratory diseases, according to 2017 data from the European Commission. Carcinogenic agents remain a challenge for many companies. In fact, they emphasize that one in four Spanish workers is exposed to workplace carcinogens, while in Europe the figure is one in five, according to estimates from the CAREX database.

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International Paper, a packaging company, announced to its workforce on Wednesday the closure of its production plants in Valls (Alt Camp) and Montblanc (Conca de Barberà). This measure will entail implementing a workforce reduction plan (ERE) and the dismissal of approximately 200 workers, according to a statement issued by the CCOO union. The company has communicated the decision to the works councils and the town halls of both municipalities. The union expressed its "absolute rejection" of the ERE and criticized the closure as a "completely arbitrary" decision: "It does not respond to any logic of real economic viability." According to the organization, the packaging sector is currently in "a phase of expansion and sustained growth, which refutes the company's arguments about an alleged production crisis." CCOO believes that this move "responds exclusively to a strategy of corporate speculation and covert offshoring" by the American multinational. In fact, the union asserts that in recent years they have observed a "deliberate diversion of orders" to other plants within the group, with the aim of reducing the workload at the Camp de Tarragona factories and justifying their closure. The president of the Montblanc plant's works council, Antonio Muriana, has requested the involvement of the Council of Mayors, the Tarragona Provincial Council, and the Catalan Government to prevent the closure of these industrial facilities. The Montblanc City Council unanimously approved a motion demanding that the company not be closed, and the Valls City Council requested a meeting with International Paper's management. "Strategic review process"

In the letter sent to the city councils, which ACN has obtained, the company states that the closure is part of a "strategic review process" of its operations in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. International Paper justifies the closure by stating that the objective is "to improve efficiency and ensure that the company's operational structure responds to the changing needs of customers and the current challenging market conditions." According to company sources, the company has significantly expanded its industrial presence in Spain in recent years. The company asserts that this growth has been largely driven by strategic acquisitions. "Now, with the aim of improving the efficiency of our operations and ensuring that the operational structure responds to the changing needs of customers and the market, we have carried out a strategic review of our business in the newly created South West EMEA region, which includes Spain, Portugal, and Morocco," they argued.

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The Ministry of Labor and the UGT and CCOO unions, but not the employers' associations, have agreed this Thursday to raise the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI). 1,221 euros gross in 14 paymentsThis represents a 3.1% increase compared to 2025. It's a rise of 37 euros per month, as announced by the Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquín Pérez Rey. The Council of Ministers will soon approve the salary increase, which will be retroactive to January 1st of this year. The employers' associations CEOE and Cepyme have distanced themselves from the agreement and rejected the increase, as anticipated in the statement released Thursday morning, in which they labeled the tax deduction in corporate income tax for the companies most affected by the pay increase as "deceptive" and "interventionist." According to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labor and the unions agree that this salary level will remain exempt from personal income tax.

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The Ministry of Labor has proposed a 3.1% increase in the national minimum wage (SMI) to social partners for 2026, maintaining this reference salary exempt from taxation. This would raise it from €1,184 to €1,221 gross per month, paid in 14 installments (an increase of €37). The Spanish employers' association and the major unions CCOO and UGT agreed to study the proposal, as explained at a press conference this Wednesday by the Secretary of State for Employment, Joaquín Pérez Rey, following the meeting between social partners to try to reach an agreement. The positions of the employers' and workers' representatives were quite far apart, as is usual when it comes to increasing the SMI. The unions wanted a 7.5% increase up to 1,273 euros per month, The employers' association CEOE lowered that figure to 1.5%.For its part, the committee of experts that advises the Spanish government In this matter, he proposed raising it by 37 euros per month (1,221 euros per month in 14 payments) by 2026 if it remained tax-exempt, or by 56 euros per month (up to 1,240 euros) if it were subject to income tax. Ultimately, the first option was chosen. Despite the disagreements between the different positions, after this latest meeting, Pérez Rey asserted that the dialogue between both parties was "sincere and very constructive." However, for now, neither unions nor employers have left the meeting with a yes or no to this proposal from the ministry led by Yolanda Díaz. The high-ranking official from the Ministry of Labor also expressed openness to "exploring" with the Treasury the possibility of "relaxing" the indexation rules related to the impact on public sector salaries. This was a recurring complaint from the employers' associations CEOE and Cepyme, who criticize the fact that with the latest increases in the minimum wage, it was necessary to update the bids in order to pass on this increase in labor costs to the administration, since they claim that this reduces the profitability of companies. The unions have also supported this review of prices in public contracts in line with any regulatory changes that may be approved, as outlined in the latest National Collective Bargaining Agreement (Agreement for Employment and Collective Bargaining, the state framework that serves as a guide in collective bargaining) approved in 2023. The Deputy Minister of Labor stated that it makes perfect sense that increases in the Minimum Wage (SMI) cannot be passed on to what companies charge the government for their services and mentioned sectors such as cleaning and private security, jobs with low wages closer to the minimum wage that have seen salary increases in recent years. "It's a matter of fairness," said the Deputy Minister. He also noted that the new European directive on minimum wages—which the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) almost fully endorsed last November—already requires member states to incorporate it. [BK_SLT_LNA~ Exempt from Personal Income Tax]

Regarding the exemption of the minimum wage from income tax, Pérez Rey explained that this position was agreed upon with the Ministry of Finance, which will be responsible for the technical implementation of this measure. However, the Ministry of Labor is confident that the "2025 approach" will be followed and the tax relief will be presented in terms similar to those agreed upon last year. "The minimum wage cannot lose even a tenth of a percent of its purchasing power; those who earn it should not be the ones who pay taxes. Tax justice begins with those who have the most, not those who have the least," Pérez Rey emphasized. The Spanish minimum wage has been one of the flagship measures of the Spanish coalition government—first with the PSOE and Podemos, and now with the Socialists and Sumar—which has increased it by 61% since taking office. "It is the main antidote to inequality. This is an increase that makes the difference between decent wages and those that are not," the Secretary of State for Labor asserted. Following the meeting, Fernando Luján, Deputy General Secretary for Trade Union Policy at UGT, and Javier Pacheco, Secretary for Trade Union Action at CCOO, described Wednesday's meeting as "positive" and welcomed the Spanish government's willingness to relax the law on the de-indexation of public contracts. Pacheco noted that although their proposed increase to the minimum wage for 2026 was 7.5 percent, the union "will not obstruct" reaching an agreement that guarantees this benchmark will reach 60 percent of the average net Spanish salary. He also celebrated that the increase is above the projected inflation rate of 2.8 percent for 2025. "We are living in times that require us all to pull together to provide reassurance," Luján stated.

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The days leading up to Christmas are the peak time of year when large stores are packed with shoppers looking for gifts and food to enjoy the holidays. However, behind these shopping sprees are employees who are denouncing the excessive workload they have to shoulder during this period and the fact that some department store chains are forcing them to work Sundays and holidays without extra pay. Dozens of these employees protested this Thursday outside the Ikea store in Hospitalet de Llobregat, called by the CCOO union, to express their discontent and demand improvements in work-life balance and wages in these types of establishments. "Worked Sunday, paid Sunday" and "They don't give us any option for work-life balance" were some of the slogans chanted by representatives of staff from multinationals such as Ikea, Carrefour, and Leroy Merlin.

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Amazon and the unions have closed an agreement for the workforce adjustment plan (ERE) With 791 layoffs at its Barcelona corporate offices, 19% fewer than initially announced at the start of this process. According to a statement released Wednesday by the CCOO union, the main reason for the layoffs is the automation of processes due to the implementation of artificial intelligence, but also the relocation of operations to other countries "with more lenient labor regulations." Approximately 2,800 people work at Amazon's Barcelona offices, so the layoffs will affect 28% of the workforce. As agreed, Amazon employees who lose their jobs will receive severance pay of 38 days per year of service, capped at 24 months' salary, with a minimum severance payment of €7,000. They will also be entitled to paid leave until February 28th. The unions have also agreed to a payment of €1,500 for those whose visas are tied to their employment contracts, and that their health insurance will be covered until May 31st. This restructuring plan is part of a nationwide reduction of approximately 900 Amazon employees, 80% of whom are based in Barcelona and the remainder in the Madrid offices. Initially, the multinational planned to lay off 1,200 people in Spain. An agreement on the workforce reduction plan for the Madrid offices, which could affect an additional 125 people, is expected to be finalized this afternoon.

The staff affected by this reduction do not work in logistics centers, but rather as call center agents and IT personnel in Amazon's BCN10 and BCN15 buildings in the Poblenou neighborhood. The workers of call center They mainly serve suppliers, while the other laid-off employees perform tasks related to IT, translation, taxation, identity checks, and data management.

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They are more expensive but also faster trains. This has made them the preferred alternative for many users who have given up on the chaotic Cercanías commuter rail system and switched to the Avant trains. So much so that in the last year and a half, demand for this service has surged. "I have to buy tickets well in advance to make sure I can get to work and back. And sometimes I can't find seats on the trains that best suit my schedule," explains Laura, who has to travel between Valls and Barcelona almost every day. Her case is identical to that of other passengers in Tarragona, Girona, and Lleida. "Here in Lleida, you either buy Avant tickets three or four weeks in advance or you won't find any," confirms Kevin Bruque, a user and spokesperson for the Avant Catalunya Users platform.

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The 2026 budget is essential and must be agreed upon at all costs. The Catalan leaders of the CCOO and UGT unions, Belén López and Camil Ros, demanded this on Wednesday. New accounts for the Generalitat for next yearThrough a series of proposals that entail an increase in spending of approximately 3.6 billion euros, both organizations have called on left-wing political forces to reach an understanding and approve a budget that takes into account the needs of workers. It should be noted that the budget has been extended since 2023, although the government has made some adjustments through supplementary appropriations. Among their proposals, CCOO and UGT have prioritized the housing access crisis and demanded that policies aimed at this area reach 2% of Catalonia's GDP (combining investment from the Catalan government and the Spanish state). In this regard, they propose expanding the public housing stock to a minimum of 100,000 publicly owned properties designated for social rental (currently at 30,000) and increasing the number of subsidized housing units to 15%, reaching 450,000. According to the unions, this objective should be achieved through more intensive use of the right of first refusal (preferential acquisition rights granted by law to a person or entity to purchase a property before a third party), the purchase of vacant properties from banks, and the rehabilitation of properties currently underutilized. Both López and Ros also referred to more interventionist measures such as the application of caps on rental market prices. These housing policies would entail an expenditure of 250 million euros in the upcoming budget. "Catalonia needs a budget, and it needs it now. This slogan of shared prosperity that President [Illa] keeps repeating must become a reality," argued López, from CCOO. Another priority identified by the unions is the improvement of public transportation, infrastructure that "conditions the daily lives of the working class," and for which they propose allocating an additional 465 million euros. For example, they propose the creation of a Catalan high-speed rail network, maintaining current discounts on transport passes, and implementing the T-Mobilitat travel card throughout Catalonia.

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The metalworkers' unions in Barcelona, ​​CCOO and UGT, reached a preliminary agreement with the employers' association UPM early Friday morning for the new collective bargaining agreement for the sector. As a result, the workers have called off the two days of strikes they had planned for December 3rd and 10th. In a statement, CCOO explained that the agreement is valid for three years, "incorporates most of the main demands" of the union's proposal, and will be put to a vote by delegates next week for ratification. The salary increases will be 4% for 2025 (applied retroactively), 3% for 2026, and 3% for 2027. In total, this represents a cumulative 10% increase. This agreement is particularly significant because it affects approximately 200,000 workers in the region.

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The Ministry of Public Administration and the unions UGT and CSIF – CCOO is awaiting approval from its internal bodies – reached a multi-year agreement Wednesday night to raise the salaries of more than three million civil servants by 11% between 2025 and 2028. This increase will be distributed in two stages: 1.5% in 2026, with an additional variable of 0.5% linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI); 4.5% in 2027; and 2% in 2028, according to union sources. This year's 2.5% salary increase for employees across various administrations will be paid in December, with retroactive effect from January 1st. For 2026, the agreement stipulates a fixed salary increase of 1.5%, with an additional half percentage point if year-end inflation equals or exceeds the 1.5% fixed increase. If this occurs, the extra 0.5% will be paid retroactively in the first quarter of 2027. All subsequent years will only have a fixed component. Although the agreed-upon increase for the period 2025-2028 is 11%, unions estimate that the cumulative salary increase for public employees over these four years will approach 11.5%, due to the carryover effect of consolidating annual increases in the salary scales. The agreement also incorporates various improvements to civil servants' working conditions, such as the elimination of the replacement rate, streamlining of selection processes, and increased staffing for public service positions, among others. This agreement between the ministry and the unions was reached after another meeting, the second this week, between the Secretary of State for Public Administration, Consuelo Sánchez Naranjo, and representatives from CCOO, UGT, and CSIF.

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The two largest unions are making moves in preparation for an increase in the national minimum wage (SMI) in 2026. CCOO and UGT have formalized their proposal for negotiations with the Spanish government and employers: a 7.5% increase in the SMI, to €1,273 gross per month. This increase represents an €89 raise over the current minimum wage, which stands at €1,184 gross per month paid in fourteen installments, as detailed by Javier Pacheco, Secretary of Union Action for CCOO, and Fernando Luján, Secretary General of Union Policy for UGT, at a press conference this Tuesday. Both union representatives argued that the SMI increase for 2026 must be "substantial and substantial." According to the unions, despite being subject to income tax (IRPF), with a 7.5% increase, those receiving the minimum wage would still earn the equivalent of 60% of the average net salary, which is the benchmark established by the European Social Charter and the commitment of the Spanish government. "We say that 60% should be calculated on gross salaries [...]. This 7.5% increase is less than how business profit margins have increased this year," Luján argued. The income tax (IRPF) already dictated the 2025 increase. While the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, rejected the idea of the minimum wage being taxed under this levy, the Ministry of Finance, headed by María Jesús Montero, defended it. Ultimately, the battle ended with a deduction for minimum wage earners so they wouldn't have to pay income tax. Looking ahead to 2026, Díaz has asked the committee of experts on the minimum wage to put forward two proposals: one for an increase subject to income tax (IRPF), and another in which minimum wage earners remain exempt from this tax. However, the committee has not yet released its proposal. Díaz asserted this Tuesday that the minimum wage will increase "significantly" in 2026 if the Spanish government, or "a part of it"—referring to the Treasury—decides that it will be subject to income tax (IRPF).

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The difference in pay between women and men is equivalent to them working without pay from tomorrow, Tuesday, November 18th, until the end of the year. The CCOO union in Catalonia denounced this situation in a statement published this Monday, calling for a "care pact" to eliminate the gender pay gap. "Although the gap has decreased in percentage terms, we note that the absolute difference in euros remains stagnant," the organization reports. According to a study presented by the same union last February, in 2022 men earned an average of €6,219.39 more than women. The CCOO in Catalonia insists that this difference in remuneration "is an injustice that perpetuates precariousness and inequality for women." "This wage discrimination is not a matter of chance, but rather the result of the undervaluation of our work and the impact of caregiving on our professional careers," the statement reads. In this regard, they also point out that labor market segregation "stems from a patriarchal society that values male-dominated jobs and fails to recognize feminized ones." "We must fight to dignify the jobs where women are more prevalent, especially those that prioritize life by providing care and support to others," the union emphasizes.

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At the entrance to the CCOO headquarters in Madrid, there is a plaque marking the birthplace of the union's current general secretary, Unai Sordo (Barakaldo, Basque Country). The immense plaque CCOO, of the Basque Agustín Ibarrola Goicoechea (1930-2023), presides the hall contrasting with the gray concrete. "Ibarrola was a much-loved figure," Sordo recalls. The union leader receives ARA shortly after Junts announced its veto of some of the Spanish government's laws.

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