Inditex store personnel account for more than 80% of the company’s global workforce. However, these they do not enjoy the same benefits of working at the textile giant as logistics, factory and plant staff. That is to say: bonuses of 500 euros for the university enrollment of the children, 175 euros per month for having a child with celiac disease or 200 for a family member with a disability. That is why many people from this feminized sector (within Inditex they are known as “the girls”) and precarious decided to go on strike the same day the sales began.
On January 7, a key date on which the textile company expects great profits, a dozen stores in Madrid belonging to Amancio Ortega could not open due to lack of staff. The shop assistants in Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and Logroño also went on strike. All of them, cities that came to join the protests started by their colleagues from A Coruña (where 98% of the store staff are women) on Black Friday under the main slogan of “I work at Inditex and I can’t make ends meet”.
Historical victory in Galicia
The objective of the Galicians was to get a raise in their salary of 440 euros. After a month of mobilizations, and ignoring the agreements that the unions had signed behind their backs, achieved an increase of 382 euros per month for Christmas. Or what is the same: almost 25%, a “historic” salary increase for these workers, which will begin to be applied progressively from the January payroll and retroactively to November.
Of the 322 euros that will improve their payroll starting this month, 122 euros will come from the increase in the so-called “plus office”, which is specific for women workers in the province where the headquarters of the group. The other 200 euros, on the other hand, will come through a plus that has been included in the negotiation of the trade agreement in the province and is intended for large companies.
The fight continues in other provinces
However, what has happened to your colleagues from other parts of Spain? They earn 1080 euros per month (almost half that of other employees) and They ask for a raise of 500 euros per month, since its partners in logistics, factories and plants “charge almost double and Inditex continues to announce record profits”, according to the complaint. They also ask that they be paid on Sundays under the same conditions as holidays and social benefits comparable to those already received by other sectors of the company.
Next January 25 will be when a negotiation table between the CCOO and UGT with the multinational to “address global measures that affect all stores and brands of the group at state level. Among the points to be discussed, the most important is the reform of the commission system for store personnel with the premise of “guaranteeing a significant impact on the remuneration of the staff”.
However, the CGT continues to organize more demonstrations. Next Monday, January 23, workers will perform decentralized concentrations throughout Spain in various commercial points. If in the negotiation it is not possible to equate conditions with the dependents of A Coruña, they will be carried out new days of strike during the month of February.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs points out that the group could close 2022 with sales of 32,000 million euros.
In Jared | @inditexcareers