Today SEAT Management and leading unions (UGT and CCOO) have signed the 19th Collective Agreement. The text of the agreement includes highlights such as improvements in the variable remuneration system and new measures that promote competitiveness and prepare the company for future increases in production capacity. The new collective agreement will remain in force from 2016 to 2020 and was signed by 10 out of SEAT’s 13 intercentres works committee representatives.
SEAT President Luca de Meo expressed his satisfaction with the agreement. “The new collective agreement consolidates a framework of stable labour relations and demonstrates the high level of employee engagement and involvement. This agreement will help us tackle the challenges of industry 4.0 and has been struck in an environment of cooperation and dialogue with the unions, which in recent years has enabled us to make significant strides to lead SEAT into a period of growth and make the company competitive in a sustainable manner. SEAT is a benchmark for labour relations in Spain”.
Furthermore, SEAT Vice-President for Human Resources Xavier Ros said that “two key aspects of the new collective agreement are the organisation of work and the remuneration system. The agreement will enable us to better adapt our production to market needs. On the other hand, we have also introduced a new salary review system and are going to promote variable remuneration to improve employee participation in profits and enterprise results. The agreement also includes new social benefits and a partial retirement plan by way of a relief contract”.
SEAT Works Council President and secretary general of the UGT in the company Matías Carnero explained that “the new collective agreement is balanced and acceptable, as it includes nearly all the requests made by the UGT and CCOO platform. With this agreement not only do employees maintain their acquired rights, but new ones have also been added. In this way, SEAT continues to offer labour conditions which are above the industry average”.
Rafael Guerrero, secretary general of CCOO at SEAT, said that “all the employees stand to benefit from the signing of this collective agreement as it shows solidarity with those who earn less, it leaves out no social group and establishes a pay-out on earned profits. But the most significant aspect is certainly that the collective agreement guarantees stable employment”.
Ready to increase production
The new collective agreement introduces two measures that pave the way to expanding activity in the factories and prepares them for future increases in production capacity:
• Splitting up the summer vacation period in the years when this measure is necessary, whereby employees will have three consecutive weeks in August and another week they can take off between June and December. This measure would be applied in accordance with the unions and would be financially compensated.
• The possibility of creating a fourth shift. This work organisation concept, which is already applied in other Volkswagen Group factories, will allow the facilities to open more days to cope with production increases, make optimal use of the scheduled additional work days and generate employment. If this measure were necessary, it would be applied in accordance with the union representatives.
Greater employee participation in profit-sharing
The agreement presents improvements in employee’s economic conditions by promoting the variable remuneration system, maintaining their purchasing power and increasing several salary components:
• If the operating result exceeds 100 million euros, employees covered by the SEAT agreement will receive 8% of the difference between the operating result and the 100 million, as well as 2% of the first 100 million, with a maximum of €1,300 per employee. If the operating result stands between 0 and 100 million euros, employees will receive 2% of the revenue. In any case, each employee is guaranteed a payment of €150 in the years the company makes a profit.
• The collective agreement guarantees an annual salary increase corresponding to the actual CPI of the previous year, with a minimum of 0.25% at the beginning of each year, and recognises the increase in several salary components. In addition, in the months when CPI exceeds 0.25%, SEAT will pay the difference between this percentage and the actual CPI in a lump sum.
New employee benefits
SEAT’s new collective agreement also expands the social benefits that are enjoyed by the workforce. In this respect, there are now more cases where employees can rely on paid leave. Furthermore, the extra summer holiday pay is going to be brought forward a few weeks from mid July to late June.
In addition, in the negotiation framework of the agreement, Management and the unions have agreed to implement a partial retirement plan until 2018 by way of a relief contract for employees over the age of 61. The first 22 partial retirees began to benefit from this plan in June. At the same time, a system has been established to increase the amount of money earmarked for the social fund, with which the unions offer help to employees.
In order to foster administrative and technical personnel’s work-life balance, SEAT will also implement a pilot test to introduce teleworking and eliminate the need for recording entry and exit times from the office. Participation will be voluntary and arranged with the union representatives. With these formulas, office personnel can perform their assigned duties within a schedule and under terms that adapt to their personal needs. Likewise, it has also been agreed that SEAT employees will receive a single payment of €300 after the collective agreement has been signed.
