Vodafone Unions Call for Protest Actions
Vodafone unions have called a 24-hour strike for July 9 and 11, as well as six days of two-hour partial stoppages on July 2, 3, 4, 10, 16 and 17. These protest actions have been called in response to the Employment Regulation File (ERO) which could affect up to 1,200 workers of Vodafone’s Spanish subsidiary, now controlled by Zegona.
Negotiations and Rejection of the Offer
Negotiations for the ERO, which could include 36% of the workforce, recently began. The British fund Zegona, owner of Vodafone Spain, has presented an offer of compensation of 24 days per year worked and a maximum of 14 monthly payments, which was rejected by the unions. This offer, despite slightly exceeding the minimum established by current legislation, was criticized by UGT.
Justification of the ERO by Zegona
The ERO comes after Zegona bought Vodafone Spain for 5,000 million euros. The British fund has justified this measure to guarantee the viability and competitiveness of the telecommunications company in the future, attributing it to the strong financial and commercial deterioration of the company in the last two years.
Reactions and Criticism
UGT considered it ‘unjustifiable’ to initiate a case for financial losses ‘already known’ at the time of the purchase. Likewise, they accused the operator of ‘hiding’ from the Spanish government the need to face an ERO.