Unions want Zara owner Inditex to extend pay rises to all shopworkers in Spain

Trade unions are asking Zara owner Inditex to give all workers at its stores in Spain the pay rises and benefits recently agreed between the retailer and shop assistants in its northern Spanish hometown, two union leaders said on Thursday.

In December, the company said around 1,000 workers at Zara shops and other Inditex brands in A Coruna, where the fashion giant has its headquarters on the city's outskirts, would receive 25% higher salaries this year following a strike during the 'Black Friday' sales rush on Nov. 24-25.

Spain's two largest unions, CCOO and UGT, which represent more than half of the workforce at Zara shops in the country, have now kicked off negotiations with Inditex to extend the pay rises and benefits to all shop assistants working for the company in Spain.

"We want for the better benefits and wages that Inditex agreed with shop assistants (in A Coruna) to be received by workers in all shops in Spain," said Alvaro Cajigal, a leader at UGT.

Until now, Inditex had been negotiating wage agreements with workers in each province separately.
"We want to go to a negotiation where there is no discrimination in the payment of workers because they are in one Spanish region or another, or because they work in a Zara shop instead of shops belonging to the group's other brands," said trade unionist Lucia Trenor from CCOO.

The unions are seeking an increase in shopworkers' salaries in Spain of at least 6% and up to 25% this year to counter galloping inflation, Trenor said.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new talks.

In November, Inditex agreed with UGT and CCOO to pay a one-off bonus of 1,000 euros in February for all full-time shop assistants employed across Spain, and to discuss further benefits.

Inditex employs 165,000 people in 177 countries, with a third of all staff based in Spain, according to its annual report. About 86% work in its 6,477 shops and most are women.