New collective bargaining negotiations set the longest official daily working hours in 12 years

Salary increases stay the same as last year: 0.56%

MADRID -- Negotiations between unions and the employers' collectives have not recovered since the introduction of controversial new labour laws by the PP government. Official statistics show that there were 1,319 agreements signed over the first nine months of the year, only 100 more than last year and the worst since the crisis began. One of the principal inducements aimed at renewing the contracts was the so-called 'ultra-activity' clause in the law that kept current existing but outdated contracts, until a new one had been negotiated. Experts point out that the daily working hours rose by 30 annual hours for 2014, or 1,756 hours, compared to the same period last year, and the longest since 2002. Negotiations centred on new contracts starting on January 1, 2015, have fixed the annual working hours at 1,825, according to the Ministry of Employment. The Autonomous Communities with the longest work day:

New collective bargaining negotiations set the longest official daily working hours in 12 years

MADRID -- Negotiations between unions and the employers have not recovered their rhythm since the controversial new labour laws introduced by the PP government. Official statistics show that there were 1,319 agreements signed over the first nine months of the year, only 100 more than last year, the worst since the crisis began. One of the principal inducements aimed at renewing the contracts was the so-called 'ultraactivity' clause in the law that kept going contracts that had run out, until a new one had been agreed. Nevertheless, experts agree point out are the daily working hours that have been agreed so far. These rose by 30 annual hours for 2014, or 1,756 hours, compared to the same peiod last year, and the longest since 2002. Negotiations with salaried personnel unions, with new contracts starting on January 1, 2015, have fixed the annual working hours at 1,825, according to Ministry of Employment. The Autonomous Communities with the longest work day are:

Spain, among EU countries who most lowered teachers' salaries

SPAIN – A recent report from the European Commission reveals that teachers’ salaries came down between 13% and 17% in Spain between 2009 and 2014, which places her in the lower pay group with Ireland, Romania, Slovenia and Iceland. “It is not surprising that the most significant reductions happened in those countries that were most impacted by the financial crisis,” the document points out, adding that the most severe reductions were registered in Greece, where teachers’ wages dropped by 40%. Spain was in a group where teachers reach their maximum level in the medium-to-long-term period of time that ranges from age 27 in Turkey to 39 in this country. Other reports state that Spain ‘lost’ over 24,000 teachers in two years, and that the Ministry of Education is planning to make changes to the law that will allow it to make further reductions. Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that Spain is pretty much at the bottom of the annual PISA report that comes from the OECD (about which more when the next one comes up).