The shipping companies Ership, through his Ranco subsidiary, and López Guillén They signed yesterday the departure of the Port Center for Employment (CPE) of Almería. The company will be liquidated and the workers, by virtue of a collective agreement achieved by companies and unions, among which coordinator, will be subrogated to companies in proportion to their participation in capital and the percentage of activity.
It is a movement that can be a turning point for the dissolution of other CPE in Spanish ports as some of the main firms in the sector such as Ership and, consequently, for A substantial change in the model that governs the labor and operational relations of the stowage In Spanish ports.
The agreement also contemplates the creation of a sectoral agreement table for the port, since the current agreement, belonging to the CPEs, will not be valid in the future. CPEs are companies constituted in order to facilitate the temporary assignment of workers to merchandise manipulation companies. Its creation dates back to 2017when the Royal Decree-Law 8/2017 was approved in Spain, which eliminated the obligation of companies to belong to the old Sageps-a similar figure.
It was the response to the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (TJUE) of 2014, which declared that the stowage system in Spain violated the fundamental right to the free movement of companies and workers. The TJUE sentenced that companies could not be forced to be part of a society for the management of Port Personnel (SAGEPS).
However, according to Carlos Nárdiz, director of Operations and Port Terminals of Ership, “the subsequent legislative modifications have reversed, in practice, the business freedom that European regulations tried to guarantee, although with the appearance of respecting it by the volunteer character that Law 4/202 grants to the CPEs, allowing companies to leave the same if that is their will.” Not surprisingly, from the entry into force of Law 4/2022, There have been about 80 requests for exit from the CPEs throughout Spain. However, in three years, only two of them, that of Vigo (without liquidation) and now that of Almería, have been effective.
“This shows that current regulation does not facilitate the application of European regulations or guarantees competition in the port sector,” says Nárdiz. In other words, this fact suggests that “the voluntariness of the CPEs, in practice, is questionable and that, although 11 years have elapsed since the TJUE judgment, although the denomination of the management societies of port personnel management has been modified, the operation of the system continues to maintain elements similar to those indicated in said resolution.” “This situation not only generates legal uncertainty, but also It can affect the operational efficiency of companiessince it forces them to maintain structures that perhaps do not align completely with their strategic needs or with the evolution of the sector, “he abounds.
The case of the CPE of Almería, although representative, “illustrates the complexity and slowness of the process”, since the negotiation has prolonged for three years. “The departure of a company of a CPE should not depend on the will of third parties or endless negotiations,” denounces the director of Ership. Although an agreement has been reached in Almeria, this cannot be considered the norm, but an exception within a system that, in its current state, prevents free business decision“, regrets.
“Yes, after Almería’s agreement, all companies that have requested their departure from the CPEs can do so effectively, guaranteeing that no remains in them involuntarily, it may be considered that full compliance has been given to the judgment of the TJUE and European regulations in Spain,” he says. However, if this is not materialized, despite having elapsed more than three years since the entry into force of Law 4/2022 and 11 years from the TJUE judgment“The risk that Spanish regulations will not be completely aligned with the European will persist,” he warns.
ERSHIP GRUPO ARTA by an output process of CPEs based on a structured and transparent systemwith clear and objective conditions that allow companies to make decisions with greater predictability and without depending on prolonged negotiations.
“The liberalization of the sector is a widely supported issue, not only by the private sphere, but also by the European Commission itself, which has reiterated the importance of Spain adapting its regulatory framework to the guidelines established in the judgment of the TJUE,” says Nárdiz. In this sense, “it will be essential that the CPES output procedure evolves towards a regulated model and based on objective criteria, preventing internal agreements between competing companies being the only possible way. A mechanism designed to favor business freedom should not become a barrier that limits the evolution of the sector, “he concludes.
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