The multinational ArcelorMittal has conveyed to the union representation, in the first meeting held after the establishment of the Negotiating Table of the Collective Agreement for the Asturian plants, on the past 15th, its intention that the validity of the new agreement be only for one year, given the current "uncertainty" in the international context.
According to what CCOO has reported in a statement, the management has conditioned any union request for an increase in labor costs to be "appropriately compensated with measures of productivity, flexibility, control of absenteeism," among other organizational aspects.
The company also advocates for an "agile" negotiation, with the aim of closing a pact "as soon as possible" and leaving the bulk of the union demands for a later agreement, of longer duration and in a scope that is still pending clarification.
In this line, management proposes to use as a starting reference the last offer recorded on July 28 within the framework of the IX Framework Agreement, so that it serves as a basis to articulate the new conventional text.
At the same time, ArcelorMittal wants to open the negotiation of the Zenith project, linked to an employment plan that addresses the exits of personnel born in 1963 and the voluntary replacement contract for 40 workers born in 1964, in order to facilitate the relocation of the surpluses associated with said project.
"If an agreement is not reached, they do not rule out the application of more traumatic measures for those affected by the outsourcing of the transversal services included in the Zenith project, transferred to Poland and India," they have warned from the social side.
The global proposal from ArcelorMittal, with a duration of one year, includes a salary increase equivalent to the real CPI minus the 0.75 percent already advanced; exits through ERE for those born in 1963 and 40 replacement contracts for the older workers of 1964, along with 120 indefinite contracts (based on criteria of seniority, assessment, and suitability according to profile needs).
The proposal also includes a reduction of the annual working hours by eight hours, from the current 1,640 to 1,632, as well as the elimination of the temporary incapacity supplement starting from the fourth sick leave in the same year.
Likewise, the company incorporates a pool of cover boxes with the possibility of mobility between departments; measures of versatility and flexibility to avoid stoppages of facilities (personal break); the development of the Zenith project with the relocation of the generated surpluses; and the commitment to open a broader negotiation before the end of the year.
In light of this scenario, CCOO has urged the management to act with "broad-mindedness" to incorporate other matters related to local negotiation that allow for improving the content of the proposal and clarifying issues that, in the union's view, are "unclear" regarding its application in Asturias.
Specifically, the union has focused on personal breaks or snacks, which it considers an "inalienable" right for the staff, and on the effect of the reduction of working hours on the personnel assigned to the 3T5 work regime, who could see how this reduction is absorbed by the hours to be recovered (H). This, in practice, would mean no benefit and a comparative grievance, as it would reverse an improvement achieved in previous negotiations, such as the non-recovery of those hours.
The next meeting of the Negotiating Table has been set for October 1, in which it is expected to continue addressing both the one-year agreement and the development of the Zenith project and its labor implications.