H&M shop workers in Spain call off July strikes after pay deal – unions
Reuters API
Unions representing shop workers at Swedish fashion retailer H&M
Around 4,000 shop assistants staged walk-outs on June 20, 24 and 26 to demand better salaries, and CCOO and UGT unions had called two more days of protests on July 1 and July 8, in the middle of H&M’s summer sales season, to also demand a lighter workload.
H&M had initially agreed to pay an extra 1,000 euros ($1,091) to shop assistants in Spain over the next 14 months and now will also give additional monthly bonuses linked to sales performance until 2025, said CCOO union leader Maria de los Angeles Rodriguez.
The fashion retailer has also agreed to hire more workers in order to reduce the overall workload of all its employees in 91 stores across the country, Rodriguez added.
“The full agreement will be signed in mid-July,” said UGT leader Lola Luna.
The workers decided to protest after months-long wage negotiations failed to yield an agreement. Workers had claimed the retailer paid less than its major competitors, including main rival Zara
H&M had no immediate comment.
Most H&M workers in Spain work part-time, about 24 hours a week, and earn less than 1,000 euros a month, according to some employees who took part in a protest outside one of the fashion retailer’s stores in Madrid on the first day of the strikes.
Spain accounts for 3.7% of H&M’s global 106,000 shop workforce, 75% of whom are women, according to its annual report for 2022.
