Barcelona City Council’s new labour agreement has divided staff and unions across the city. Approved in January, the deal covers about 17,000 municipal workers and was backed by PSC, BComú and ERC.
The agreement was negotiated by the city government with the majority unions CCOO, UGT and CSIF, which hold 12 of the 15 seats on the committee. Three CGT representatives rejected it, and the union says it represents a majority of workers in the direct care services sector, where protests have been ongoing for months over working conditions.
The direct care services group includes about 3,500 workers in social services, citizen attention offices, feminism departments and nurseries. It also covers staff at SARA, the Women’s Information and Care Points (PIAD), and the Municipal Unit against Human Trafficking (UTEH).
The unions that signed the agreement say the new text improves conditions compared with the previous deal. In a letter seen by betevé, they also criticised Junts, BComú and ERC for calling an extraordinary plenary session to discuss strikes, saying the parties had listened only to some of the actors involved and ignored the organisations that signed the agreement. More Catalonia news.
Opponents, including Intersindical and CGT, say the agreement rewards masculinised sectors and penalises feminised ones linked to care and social attention. They also argue it cuts labour rights and work-life balance, and are calling for a separate negotiation table for social services staff.
Public libraries are affected in a mixed way. Some staff fall under the Libraries Consortium and are covered by the new municipal agreement, while others depend on the Diputació and have not yet had the new conditions applied. Libraries also have their own works council, made up only of Intersindical and CGT, which is asking for a separate negotiation framework.