Mataró City Council has approved a resolution to include worker representatives on the boards of three key municipal public companies: Aigües de Mataró, PUMSA, and Mataró Audiovisual. The proposal, initially presented by the ERC municipal group with an amendment from the government coalition (PSC and En Comú Podem), passed with all votes in favour except for Junts per Mataró.
The resolution highlights that municipal public companies are essential for public services in Mataró. Aigües de Mataró, PUMSA, and Mataró Audiovisual provide functions directly affecting residents' quality of life, relying on the commitment and expertise of their employees. Despite their central role, workers currently lack formal participation in the strategic decision-making bodies of these companies, according to the resolution.
Legal Basis and Precedents
Legally, worker participation in company boards is viable under Spanish law. The Capital Companies Act (articles 23 and 529 ter) and the Public Sector Legal Regime Act 40/2015 allow boards to incorporate observers with speaking rights, or even voting members designated by workers, if company statutes or a board agreement permit. Officials said there are strong precedents in public companies across Catalonia and Spain, showing this participation is useful, secure, and beneficial.
Examples of formal worker participation as observers in board meetings or related bodies in Catalan municipal companies include TMB, Parcs i Jardins, and BSM in Barcelona, Aigua - Aigües de Terrassa, and the Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa. Other public companies, particularly in communication and mobility, incorporate workers onto their boards with both speaking and voting rights. These models show that worker participation improves transparency, enriches decision-making, reduces conflicts, and strengthens the democratic quality of public governance.
Benefits of Worker Involvement
Worker participation in governance bodies is not exclusive to the public sector. It also occurs in private Catalan and European companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises, which have incorporated labour representatives into administrative boards, strategic committees, or supervisory bodies. This shows that worker representation on boards is a consolidated practice across various sectors and company sizes, not an exception. It is particularly suitable for municipal companies, which have a public service mission.
This approach improves governance quality by bringing in more technical and operational knowledge. It reduces conflicts and improves transparency, as workers can anticipate, explain, and share criteria in real-time. It also provides continuity beyond political cycles, as workers maintain accumulated knowledge that can be passed on to board members who are renewed every four years.
Mataró's Leadership Role
Mataró was recognised as the State Capital of the Social and Solidarity Economy in 2026. This sector promotes participatory, transparent governance focused on the common good. While not a legal argument, this recognition positions Mataró as a reference point and reinforces the need for the city to show real leadership in good public governance practices. Taking on this role means moving towards more open, inclusive models consistent with the principles the city says it defends, including within its municipal companies, which should be examples of transparency, co-responsibility, and institutional quality.
The municipal group of Esquerra Republicana proposed the following agreements:
- Urge the municipal government to promote the incorporation of worker representatives as observers with speaking rights but no voting rights on the administrative boards of Aigües de Mataró, PUMSA, and Mataró Audiovisual. After five years, the suitability of granting them voting rights will be assessed.
- Ensure this process includes the corresponding legal analysis, review of company statutes, and definition of the mechanism for appointing labour representatives, guaranteeing their stable and formalised participation.
- Frame this process within the strategic plan development currently underway at Aigües de Mataró, PUMSA, and Mataró Audiovisual. This space will be used to review and reflect on each company's governance model, as well as possible modifications to the composition and functioning of their administrative boards.
- Communicate this agreement to the administrative boards of Aigües de Mataró, PUMSA, and Mataró Audiovisual, as well as to the workers and trade unions represented in these companies.
