It took 72 hours to bring together the positions that were far apart at the beginning of the week. Telefónica has closed an ‘express agreement’ with the unions to ensure social peace before the shareholder shake-up occurs with the foreseeable arrival on the board of the Saudi STC and the State through Sepi, whose purchase of 10% of the The titles will start now. The operator, which will face a payment of more than 1,000 million euros to address the departures that will have to be provisioned in the 2024 accounts, gave an important ‘push’ to the conditions of the Employment Regulation File (ERE) and the agreement Collective in the last two meetings. This attitude contrasts with the one adopted last week, when worker representatives publicly warned of an excessively harsh approach by the company.
“The attitude has completely changed since the beginning of this week,” union sources assure La Información. The company came to put on the table some conditions that were very far from those established in other social negotiations, such as forced geographical mobility or a maximum compensation for the ERE of just 60% – very far from the 68% agreed upon in the collective dismissal. . of 2011 and the conditions of the last PSI-. And with a figure of impact that was raised in the constitution of the negotiation tables of the file of 5,100 jobs, well above what had been considered at first.
This constitution of the ERE tables, which marks the beginning of the talks, took place on December 4. But the formal negotiation really started on Tuesday the 11th. In ten days an agreement has been finalized and UGT has gone from rejecting the proposal with especially strong words to ensuring that the agreement reached allows for “shielding economic stability and future access to action retire”. the colleagues who subscribe to the early retirement offer, which is undoubtedly the best achieved in the history of Telefónica and, possibly, of Spain.”
The election of the ERE has its peculiarities with respect to a suspension plan such as the PSI. The compensation provided has tax advantages (the first 180,000 euros are exempt) but there is a total separation from the company. That 68% that has been achieved as a limit is a benefit for the workforce, union sources say. There is one salvation regarding the 2021 or 2019 programs: between 63 and 65 years of age, employees see their compensation cut. But, as social organizations point out and internal sources corroborate, workers will be able to retire early and offset the impact on the pension with 34% of the salary for the youngest and 38% for veterans.
The key to this collective dismissal negotiation was going to be in the economic conditions, from the moment the operator opened a door that had not been opened in the previous dismissal plans. Total voluntariness is eliminated from minute one. And the unions have had to accept the fact that there were forced labor, which had been set as a ‘red line’. It is one of the measures that have accepted a change of allowing the centenary of those banned in the 2021 PSI to enter this ERE or the possibility of opening exits also in critical areas where there is no “labor surplus.”
Operational challenge
Regarding the total impact, the number of employees included has been cut by 1,700. The consequences of this significant reduction by the company will be seen in the departure calendar. Although the company had considered the possibility of it being a multi-year plan until 2026 – the final year of the strategic plan -, the reality is that most of the departures will occur at the end of next February. The window will be left open until 2025, but later departures will be very few. This will be an operational challenge for the operator, since in 2021 and in 2019 it was already the case with the aircraft being lost.
In the agreement, the negotiating table has looked askance at what was happening in the ERE. The unions knew that their position of strength would grow if they linked both pacts to protect social peace. And the improvement in conditions in this last week has been noticeable, as explained by the unions. Not only has the criticized forced mobility been eliminated, which once again falls out of the text, but the salary increase has also been improved to match what has been had since 2019 and with the extensions.
Before Sepi
All this has happened before the stock shake-up that will occur in 2024. The State Industrial Participation Company (Sepi) will begin purchasing shares with the company already adjusted. And the changes that both its landing and that of STC will imply can be addressed without the labor front in the main market, which is the Spanish market, remaining open. The company chaired by José María Álvarez-Pallete will concentrate efforts on governance and the balancing act in the company and on staging a centenary for which they have been working for more than two years.
Now, with the pact with the unions already signed in the absence of confirmation in the different assemblies, it remains to be seen what the attitude of the Ministry of Labor will be. Since the last reform of the law, the body today led by Yolanda Díaz does not have a vote but it does have a voice, since it has the power to prepare a non-binding report on any ERE. The Sumar leader also warned that he would closely monitor the conditions. Now there are several weeks left to tie all the fringes to stamp the signatures, probably in the first week of January.
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS