This News Really Annoys Me!

 Just read this news article on Zara'a worker's union fighting so they don't have to work on Saturday afternoon in July and August so they can enjoy the weather!! It will apply to the province of Vizcaya. I can't believe the judge ruled against Inditex given the current economic climate, sure they are not short of a bob or two but it makes no sense when they are open all over Spain in the afternoons. It is these sort of stupid ocurrances that really get up my nose, where labour laws are different from province to province. The country is in an economic mess and all some workers are thinking of is going out to enjoy the weather!!!  What is this? It's a joke. It's not just Zara you can see this nearly every day with ridiculous demands from worker's unions, crazy court decisions and so on...

www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/spainnews/9612/zara-workers-rebel-against-working-saturday-afternoons-in-july-and-august.aspx

Now a debate about the pros and cons of unions could be fun !!!

Barry

 Hmmmm ..... I suspect that would depend on just who joins in Barry!!!!!

With Spains current unemployment rate I'm sure there will be lots of people to socialise with midweek who would be more than happy to have a job, any job.. My son has to take midweek days off and work at weekends but doesn't complain, just works very hard and gets on with it like his Dad always has and still does.

This is an issue which I am always in two minds about.  When I first came here it was always a pain to get to shops and find they were shut, but then I got into the way of doing things here and appreciated that the Spanish do put family life before all else.  It still annoys me though that Ikea doesn´t open many Sundays!

As for the union issue, I used to be a shop steward (very briefly) and believe in workers´ rights, but I think there needs to be a balance and that services need to be available when the customer wants them.  I do think it will change over time but Spain has never really cared much about customer service, has it? 

In the current economic climate decisions should be made on what makes business sense.  If many people are off work and like to go shopping on a Saturday afternoon and can't go other times of the week, they will obviously spend their money in shops other than Zara.  If I owned Zara, I'd be very annoyed at this judicial interference.

Mac75

I should not be too upset by the article you have just read, its not new.

This is a report in 2010

 I don’t know how many other Provinces / Regions already have the same time table) but it is not just in Vizcaya.

Report:- 

El Juzgado de lo Social número 10 de Bizkaia ha emitido una sentencia por la que obliga a Inditex a cerrar sus tiendas de Bizkaia los sábados por la tarde en verano, atendiendo el recurso presentado por ELA, que denunció a la multinacional gallega por "incumplir" el convenio del comercio textil de Bizkaia.

 I think some background about this Court decision would be useful in trying to understand it.

In or around 2003, the Vizcaya textile industry negotiated a collective agreement between the Unions and the industry whereby the textile companies agreed to close on Saturday afternoons during July and August.  This was a result of a bargaining agreement and although I am not familiar with the particulars, I am experienced enough to know that the industry accepted this in the usually hard negotiations in exchange for the workers acceptance of some other compromises, whatever they were.

In 2009, Inditex, the owner of Zara decided to open Saturdays in July and August in Vizcaya to try to increase sales so the trade union took the company to court arguing breach of the Agreement.  The Court in 2010 accepted the argument of the trade union that Zara either had to close on Saturdays in July and August as agreed or the industry would have to re-negotiate the collective industry agreement or Zara would have to negotiate a specific collective agreement for that company.

I am trying to find out what happened since then but it is quite likely that the collective agreement has been renegotiated either at the industry or at the specific company level.

One may agree or disagree with the Court ´s sentence, but it is neither interference by the Courts with a business decision but a resolution of litigation brought before the Court nor a crazy unfounded sentence by some Court as the arguments have a sound basis in law.  Courts must issue their sentences based on the laws and not on what the economic circumstances are.

I hope this helps to clarify something that without some background information may appear absolutely illogical and crazy.

 Inditex, the owner of Zara is considered part of the textile industry because they manufacture most, if not all, the garments sold in Zara shops and also sell their products to other retailers to be sold under other trademarks.  They have manufacturing plants in several countries, the larger ones being, I believe, in China and Brazil.  The head office of Inditex is in Galicia and it is a family owned company.  Zara is the trademark under which they conduct their retail business.

Really informative Lobin.

On a more general note I wonder if any of this relates however to “jo public” striving for some form of lifestyle balance?  The emphasis these days appears to be increasingly focused on ever- increasing calls for growth and productiivity to cover the debts of nation states. Debts that appear to have arisen as a direct consequence of a failure to effectively globally regulate the banking institutions that committed all manner of fraudulent activities hidden behind complex arrangements.

It urks to know that those who were the instigators of this worldwide economic downturn, which has resulted in all manner of global austerity measures which have the potential to deplete living standards for a whole generation, are the very institutions who have been bailed out by those suffering the consequences of their actions. 

Do we need to step back perhaps and question where this never ending call for increased productivity and growth is ultimately leading to, especially if we find that in the process it leads to a better life for only a minority at the expense of the majority?

Just a thought!

 well my point is that even if there are "convenios" within certain sectors these "collective agreements" are negotiated by union leaders who have been pocketing "benefits" for years and are out of date. Why is it that the rest of Spain seems to mange to open on Saturday afternoons and Vizcaya can't. It is ridiculous and the "collective agreements" are a joke. I say this because it is not just the fact that these collective agreements force shops to close so they can enjoy time with their friends and bask in the sun, which is all well and good when things are going well, but they forbid the businessman from hiring temporary staff to cover those hours and also prohibit workers from voluntarily working in the afternoon, so they are directly contributing to unemployment. The "collective agreement states that only the owners or family members who are not receiving salaries and can not be classified under the "convenio act" are able to work. meaning Amancio and his children would have to open the stores themselves if they wanted to sell clothes in the afternoon on Saturdays in Vizcaya. Why not let them hire temporary seasonal staff during July and August, no they couldn't do that otherwise they would loose power as a union. 

Just add some info on Indetex: Inditex manufactures about 50% of it's items though it's plants in Galicia, Portugal and Morocco , and relies on 1200 suppliers. 14% of it's clothes are manufactured in Eastern European countires such as Romania and Turkey. 34% of it's clothes comes from Asia while only 2% comes from Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay and Mexico. Inditex is resposnsible for 15% of the the GDP of Galicia. The secret of their success is in their business model which enables them to get new clothes to market from the desidn table to the shop window in 2-3 weeks when most would take 5-6 months, meaning they can adapt their fashion in real time, stop manufacturing what isn't selling and adjust and increase quantities of what is selling. The failure percentage of items designed by Zara is 1% where as with the competition it is over 10%. Zara customers on average visit their shops 17 times a year, where as competitors will receive on average 3-4 visits a year from their customers. That's the secret of their success, speed to market and giving the customer what they want straight away at the right price.