H&M has announced the opening of a collective dismissal procedure in Spain for organizational and economic reasons that will lead to the closure of 28 stores and affect 588 workers, according to CCOO in a statement.
Specifically, the union has reported that the fashion firm has presented this staff adjustment for organizational, productive and economic reasons in the stores, after having announced yesterday another employment regulation procedure in its Barcelona offices, the negotiation of which will begin this week. coming.
In the communication that the unions have received, H&M plans to close 28 stores, with an initial impact of 588 employees, beginning the negotiation process in September.
CCOO has recalled that with the new Royal Decree of 2023, in the event that workplace closures occur, the company must notify the labor authority at least six months in advance until the constitution of the organization occurs. negotiating table, sending a copy to the most representative unions at the state and regional level.
After last year’s mobilization processes to demand salary improvements in Spain and the agreement reached, CCOO believes that this measure is “too aggressive” and that solutions can be sought that do not involve job loss.
In this way, it is committed to negotiating with the company to maintain the greatest number of jobs, minimizing the effects of “such harsh measures” as those proposed by H&M for a workforce, which was already decimated by the ERE that occurred in 2021. with the final departure of 349 workers, compared to the almost 1,100 affected that the company had initially proposed.
Agreement in June 2023
The announcement of the cut comes seven months after reaching an agreement in principle with labor improvements for the workforce. After the mobilizations of the workers, which achieved the closure of the textile multinational’s stores, CCOO and UGT closed in June an agreement in principle with the management of H&M with labor and salary improvements for the 4,000 employees of the workforce in Spain. Among them, a sales incentive for all positions in the store of up to 50 euros per month and an increase in resources in the establishments.
CCOO then highlighted that the agreement came after the success of the strike mobilizations, called together with UGT, in the middle of the sales campaign and which led to the closure of hundreds of the fashion brand’s stores in Spain. After the pact, the two days of strike that were scheduled for July 1 and 8 were called off.
After “intense negotiations” at the headquarters of the Interconfederal Mediation and Arbitration Service (SIMA), the union explained that in the agreement salary improvements were achieved as a sales incentive for all positions in the store of up to 50 euros per month, “ linked to effective presence”, which will be valid until 2025.
