In the already complicated scenario for tile makers due to the energy crisis, the CCOO-PV and UGT-PV unions raise the tone and announce mobilizations and concentrations of delegates and company committees, which they open to the rest of the employees. They have been negotiating the new collective agreement for the sector for months and maintain the position of not signing an agreement that “does not guarantee to stop the loss of purchasing power of male and female workers.”
The dates will be September 23, 2022 and October 21 and the location will be in the streets of Castelló, with a demonstration-concentration that will travel to the headquarters of the ASCER employers’ association.
In addition, there will be informative assemblies of delegates from the tile sector of both trade union centers CCOO del Hábitat PV and Fica UGTPV on the negotiation and mobilizations of the tile sector on September 16 and October 14.
The ceramic sector is key in the Castellón economy, where 95% of Spanish production is located and its impact on employment in Castellón is 17.9%. In total, the sector represents 11.6% of industrial employment in the Valencian Community.
The tile negotiating commission made the decision to go out on Tuesday, after difficulties in reaching agreements. According to Vicente Chiva, general secretary of the Federation of Industry of Castellón, “we are not capable of moving the employers with an inflation of 10%, but we will continue fighting”.
In their letter, the unions speak of “lack of solidarity and selfishness of the bosses” in a situation of “major crisis, and with runaway inflation.” They also add that “trade union and social organizations cannot allow those who receive aid from the State or public administrations not to comply with their social and labor responsibility, that is, those who take advantage of the contextual circumstances so as not to negotiate salary increases for their workers and still receive public subsidies”, point out the union leaders.
Meanwhile, companies are preparing for autumn with new fairs, such as the Maison fair
Another upcoming event on the calendar is Cersaie, which opens on September 26 in Bologna. There are companies that do not give up on the event, such as Roca Tiles, which consider it strategic for gaining competitiveness in the European market, or WOW, an author ceramics publisher, which will also attend to exhibit its work. Others, on the other hand, will take a step back due to the current economic scenario.
This is the case of Rocersa Group, which has decided this year to adopt an “exceptional decision” and will not attend what is considered the main international fair in the sector. It will transform the investment destined to come in direct support to its clients, to cushion the complicated situation derived from the war in Ukraine, which has triggered the price of energy in Europe.
“After thinking about it a lot, we have decided to transform the investment initially destined for the fair into concrete benefits for our clients. We are going to use the equivalent of 150% of the investment that we had planned for Cersaie in a reduction of the energy rate during the months of September and October”, explains Hazem Hayani, CEO of Rocersa Group.
For the company from Castellón, it is a priority, in the current situation, to anticipate and be transparent, since it is going to be a particularly convulsive and complicated exercise for gas-intensive companies”.
