H&M workers strike at more than 100 shops and prepare to strike for Thursday’s spanish sales
H&M workers have staged the first round of partial stoppages and rallies in more than a hundred of the Swedish chain’s 125 shops open in Spain, as a prelude to the 24-hour strike called by the unions for next Thursday, the first day of sales at the Swedish textile chain.
According to CCOO sources consulted by EFE, the rallies have taken place at the doors of about 15 shops of the textile group, while the partial strike (11.00 to 13.00 hours) has been seconded in more than a hundred establishments.
The same source estimates, approximately and without counting the partial stoppage in the afternoon, the follow up at 80% of a shop staff of 4,000 workers throughout Spain.
The partial stoppages called on Tuesday in two shifts were confirmed after the failure the day before of the negotiating table convened at the SIMA with representatives of the company and the unions.
The CCOO and UGT unions said that the proposals put forward by the company at the SIMA meeting are still “insufficient and not very concrete” in terms of sales incentives, the responsibility bonus and the wage supplement for sick leave.
H&M says its measures presented should satisfy workers
H&M has indicated in a note that it submitted yesterday a package of measures to the social partners “that meets the needs identified”.
It adds that it proposes an increase in effective in-store resources through definite extensions of hours in part-time contracts and more hiring and higher pay through a flexible system based on the achievement of targets.
This coming Thursday, H&M starts its sales season, although the unions have called a 24-hour strike in all of the chain’s shops.
CCOO, the majority union at national level with 53% representation, believes that H&M is “subjecting the workforce to precarious working conditions” and has asked the company to be more specific in its counter-proposals.
Work stoppages by province
By geographical area, the rallies and stoppages have been called in shops in Galicia (Pontevedra, Vigo, La Coruña and Santiago); Asturias (Siero); Andalusia (Seville and Malaga); Castilla-La Mancha (Ciudad Real); Valencia (Valencia and Alicante); Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Bilbao and Barcelona, among others.
The unions calling for these mobilisations are UGT (35% representation throughout Spain), CCOO, Ciga (in Galicia) and ELA (Basque Country), who have announced a second day of 24-hour strike for next Monday.
CCOO denounces that they have held several months of meetings at the negotiating table in which, they claim, they have told the company about the problems existing in the H&M Group (H&M, COS, Other Stories, Weekday) “which require an effective solution”, especially in terms of working conditions and wages.
