On 22 July, the unions UGT and CCOO held a joint assembly of delegates in Madrid to press for a reduction of working hours in public services. As negotiations have reached an impasse, both unions announced that they will resort to protests, beginning with a nationwide mobilisation on 26 September. In public administrations, the 37.5-hour work week introduced by the Government in 2012 remains the norm, despite progress in some autonomous and local administrations to reduce working time. That restriction was lifted with the Framework Agreement for a 21st-Century Government, which now permits negotiations for a shorter week without conditions. The unions stress that this moment must be seized to move towards a significant reduction in working hours, with the 32-hour week seen as a reference point.
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For more information, please contact Paul de Beer or Oana Ciuca, De Burcht (Scientific Bureau for the Dutch Trade Union Movement) p.t.debeer@uva.nl or the Head of communications at the ETUI, Mehmet Koksal mkoksal@etui.org. For previous full issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit https://www.etui.org/Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter or consult the archive with all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu.
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