The agreement that the PSOE has reached with Sumar to have its support for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez includes the commitment to toughen the causes of dismissal and to reinforce the role of the unions in cases of cancellation of the agreement – situations in which that a company decides not to apply an agreement because there are economic reasons that prevent it -, so that it is mandatory to negotiate them in all cases.

The document, of 48 pages and in which there are 24 mentions of “employment”, the fundamental axis of this legislature, includes the commitment to “establish guarantees for workers against dismissal, complying with the European Social Charter and reinforcing causality in cases of termination of the employment relationship”. Specifically, the European Social Charter states that all workers have the right not to be dismissed “without valid reasons for doing so related to their skills or conduct, or based on the operating needs of the company, establishment or service.” “, so that those who are dismissed without valid reason are entitled to “adequate compensation or other appropriate relief.”

UGT has relied precisely on this wording to sue Spain before the European Committee of Social Rights – an organization dedicated to ensuring that national legislation complies with the provisions of the Charter -, alleging that our system of dismissal compensation is insufficient and does not guarantee fair protection. The lawsuit, in line with others presented and won by unions in Italy and France, is pending and will probably lead to a ruling by the Strasbourg Committee encouraging the Government to change the legislation, which could open the door to a kind of à la carte dismissal compensation based on the characteristics of each worker.

Regarding the drop-off mechanisms, in which companies rely on not to apply the clauses of the collective agreement, the Government undertakes to “strengthen the guarantees of workers in substantial modifications to working conditions and drop-offs.” , review the causes so that only in situations that affect the viability of the company can these procedures be resorted to, which must be negotiated, giving priority to negotiation with the union organizations and guaranteeing the reversible nature of the measures adopted.

Picking up is an option that is included in article 82.3 of the Workers' Statute, which stipulates that, although “the collective agreements regulated by this law bind all employers and workers included within its scope of application and at all times of its validity”, “without prejudice to the above, when economic, technical, organizational or production causes occur, by agreement between the company and the representatives of the workers authorized to negotiate a collective agreement, proceeding may be made, after developing a consultation period under the terms of article 41.4, to disapply in the company the working conditions provided for in the applicable collective agreement, whether sector or company agreement.”

The elements that the company may not comply with are those related to the working day, schedule and distribution of working time, shift work regime, remuneration system and salary amount, work and performance system, functions and voluntary improvements of the action. protector of Social Security.

According to the current standard, there must be “proven reasons” related to “the company's competitiveness, productivity or technical or work organization” to activate these mechanisms, but the Executive document wants to restrict their use only to cases in which the viability of the company is at risk, which will limit the possibilities of companies to take advantage of this option.

To activate this mechanism, if it affects only one worker, the Statute states that the decision “must be notified by the employer to the affected worker and his legal representatives at least fifteen days in advance of the date of its effectiveness”, without that it is necessary to negotiate it; but the Government indicates that from now on these procedures “must be negotiated, giving priority to negotiation with union organizations and guaranteeing the reversible nature of the measures adopted.”

If the termination is collective – it affects several workers – the Statute does establish that the decision must be preceded by a period of consultation with the legal representatives of the workers, lasting no more than fifteen days, or, if there are none, with a commission made up of a maximum of three workers.

Negotiating tools

The agreement suggests that the Government will respond to one of the demands of the unions during the last legislature: to have qualified information on how companies are really doing in order to have negotiation tools when requesting salary improvements.

CCOO even proposed that an Economic Information System for Collective Bargaining be created, which would be integrated into the Tax Studies and Statistics Service of the Tax Agency, to offer information from official sources and current records on sales (based on tax returns). of output VAT), purchases (input VAT) and salary payments (personal income tax form 111) since 2014. “It is important that the Government is willing to facilitate and make the necessary data transparent,” they claimed then.

Now, the acting Government picks up the gauntlet and promises to improve “the economic information available to the negotiators of collective agreements at a supra-corporate level, to enable a more balanced distribution of income and productivity gains.”

The northern expansion of the Port of Valencia is going to become one of the key demands of the Valencian Community to the Government of Pedro Sánchez, which keeps a public-private investment that exceeds 1,500 million paralyzed and prevents the growth of a leading infrastructure in the Mediterranean, which would also turn Valencia into a hub for international maritime trade, the largest port for interoceanic container traffic.

The president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, and the mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, consider it “unavoidable” for work to be resumed to make this fourth terminal a reality.. In the words of the head of the Consell, “the delay is blocking the development of the Valencian economy and the private investments that are eager to come.”

The PP has always been in favor of the construction of the dock, but so has the PSOE, which makes it more incomprehensible for the Valencian Administrations why it is still blocked.. The president of State Ports, Álvaro Rodríguez Dapena, acknowledged yesterday at the inauguration of the president of the PAV, Mar Chao, that expansion is essential: “If only in the coming years international trade grows by half of what which has done so in recent years, we are going to need more terminals, and Valencia is where it is most advanced.

The position of the PSOE is also clear. Ximo Puig announced that the socialists would present motions in all institutions to demand an enlargement that “respects the environment and strictly complies with the European Green Deal.”

It is in their government partners that the discrepancy can arise, which in recent years have been championed by Compromís and Podemos but, especially, by the former mayor of Valencia Joan Ribó, whose harmony with Yolanda Díaz is total..

The Port of Valencia designed a northern expansion in 2006 that required the construction of breakwaters, docks to accommodate containers and an investment in access to the port.. The total cost of the infrastructure would be around 1,200 million euros and it received a favorable Environmental Impact Declaration (DIA) in 2007: the work would not affect the beaches in the south of the city or in La Albufera.. However, until 2012 only the dams were built. The rest was left in the drawer due to the economic crisis and it was not until 2018 when the bidding document for the new container terminal, the port's fourth, was resumed and approved.

Just one year later, in September 2019, the Port Authority of Valencia (APV) awarded the construction and management to the company Terminal Investment Ltd.. (TIL), a subsidiary of the MSC group, which will cost 1,021 million of the total work. Another 542.7 million euros must be provided by the State.

With this work, the Valencian port would have the capacity to accommodate five million more containers on an area of 137 hectares and 1,700 meters of docking line, an automatic, low-emission terminal that would involve hiring half a thousand stevedores.

Everything seemed ready when it ran aground. MSC made a modification to the project to locate the terminal not in the internal waters of the breakwater, but in the northern part, thus favoring the arrival of larger and less mobile ships, and this caused the left-wing parties, especially Compromís , with Ribó at the helm, questioned the validity of the EIS and demanded another study in accordance with the new environmental legislation of 2013.

Although the APV had already renounced those parts of the expansion that conflicted with the new regulation, the pressure on the Government did not stop. The controversy reached the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament, where PP and PSOE were in favor.

In March 2021, State Ports issued a “favorable report” on the dock project, but warned that the PAV “must issue a certification that the project does not require undergoing a new environmental procedure.”. Along the same lines, the Ministry of Ecological Transition granted the Port Authority the status of “substantive body” in the expansion project and, therefore, the ability to decide whether or not to subject it to environmental evaluation.

This decision was judicialized by the citizen platform Comissió Ciutat-Port and caused the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid to suspend it as a precautionary measure, once again complicating the decision of the Council of Ministers.

Entrepreneurship is not easy and anyone who has started a business adventure knows it.. However, breaking into the market with the certainty that a business model works is an option for many who live with the itch of being an entrepreneur.. This is the case of the more than 1,380 franchise brands that exist today in Spain.. A sector that has been positive for years and contributing to the country's economic growth, as highlighted in an event organized by Expansión and EL MUNDO in collaboration with BBVA.

Four Spanish franchises told their success stories from the different sectors of activity in which they operate in a meeting whose objective was to highlight this type of company, which in many cases are small and medium-sized companies or self-employed workers.. The deputy director of Expansión, Iñaki Garay, moderated the conversation, in which digitalization and sustainability played an essential role.

The event began with the intervention of Luisa Masuet, president of the Spanish Franchise Association (AEF) and director of McDonald's franchises, during which she did not hesitate to show her pride in the figures presented by this little-known area, but which contributes to the Spanish economy to a large extent. Proof of the consolidation and maturity of this market are the 27,000 million euros it has a turnover, the more than 300,000 people it employs in Spain, and the 139 countries in which Spanish franchises have a presence.

One of these cases is Brooklyn Fitboxing, which already has almost 200 training centers in Argentina, France, Portugal, Russia and Spain.. From the beginning, they set internationalization as their objective, so they began to carry out projects with the condition that they could be “scalable and replicable” in other parts of the world, said María Blanco, the company's project director.

Something similar happens with the ALSEA restaurant group, although in this case the company has brands of great importance at a global level such as Domino's, Burger King, Starbucks, Gino's or VIP's. In addition, they present another singularity and that is that 80% of their establishments are owned by the group, “so the business models are very tested,” said Iván Martín Cabrero, franchise director at the company and spokesperson for the AEF.. “Transmitting this know-how to the franchisee minimizes the risk,” he added.. This is one of the advantages of this form of entrepreneurship.

Digitalization and sustainability are key for this sector to continue to rise in the future, something that the Fermento Panaderos group is aware of, which has carried out a series of digitalizing actions from different avenues.

Ignacio Antón, representing this group, explained to the attendees that the company has implemented digital technology both internally and externally.. “We use programs that are powered by artificial intelligence and big data to determine if a specific site is a correct location for the business”. But, Antón also assured that digitalization has allowed them to “obtain traceability of all processes” whether when purchasing raw materials for manufacturing, whether to know if there is going to be a change in sales trend or to facilitate the buy from your customers with a click and collect service. That is, its consumers can buy through its platform, and pick it up at the establishment with a guarantee of availability and without the need to queue.

The REPLUS group, dedicated to the PVC and aluminum industry, has also improved the relationship with its clients through technology, since as reported by its commercial and franchise director, Juan Miguel Cantó. Their sale does not end with the act of purchase, since the product requires subsequent installation, which is why they offer their customers the possibility of tracking their order.

Whatever the project, the future of franchises, franchisees and franchisors looks promising, with clear and proven keys to success.. According to Mauset, for this type of model, the correct selection of the franchisee, their training, and having the appropriate suppliers are essential, and that is where banking entities such as BBVA come into play, which offers a comprehensive service for this type of client.

In this aspect, the head of the department, María Eugenia López, emphasized that “after the critical moment of opening, these entrepreneurs may have more needs” that they satisfy “by accompanying them in terms of technological innovation or sustainable transition”, in addition to financing actions.