The workers of the Santillana Spain publishing house have gathered again this Monday against the collective dismissal that the company, known for its educational textbooks and acquired in 2020 by the Finnish group Sanoma, intends to apply. The ERE reaches up to 20% of the workforce, which translates into the departure of around 90 people. Workers still do not know which positions or areas it will affect most. “We are all alert, in principle we are all in,” says a source from the staff, who asks not to reveal his name.
With slogans such as “Sanoma does not want us” and “No to the ERE in Santillana”, a large part of the staff from the offices of the Tres Cantos (Madrid) headquarters have gathered this morning at the doors of the offices where the celebration takes place this Monday. a new negotiation table for collective dismissal.
“The concentrations are having a very important impact among the workforce,” says Manuel Fernández Balanza, head of the Paper, Graphics and Photography sector at FSC-CCOO. “At last week’s workers’ assembly, in person and by videoconference, there were around 400 people out of a total of 470 on staff. It has been a bucket of cold water, a 20% impact is very important,” the union explains.
“When they informed us of the news it was a shock. “We didn’t expect it, to be honest,” the staff said. “It is true that the world of education is changing, that a transformation is necessary, but the publisher had already promoted some incentivized, voluntary departures, and we thought it would stay there, we did not think that an ERE would apply,” add the same sources. The sector is registering other similar maneuvers, such as the collective dismissal that SM also applied this year.
There are benefits, “organizational” causes
This Monday there was a new meeting of the ERE negotiating table, and “next week the consultation period ends,” explains Fernández Balanza. Santillana Spain (Sanoma), a leader in the sector and which has profits, has justified the collective dismissal for organizational and production reasons, but the staff representation rejects the reasons and considers that the measure is disproportionate.
“Sanoma Educación SAU is currently in negotiations with the workers’ representatives, after the formation of the negotiating table, in relation to the Employment Regulation File for organizational reasons that we announced on September 16,” the company states.
“We are maintaining an open and collaborative dialogue to try to reach the best possible agreement for all parties involved. This process aims to guarantee the sustainability of our business in an adverse market environment that translates into a drop in the number of users of educational content,” Sanoma continues.
In this Monday’s meeting, which will last until the afternoon, and the next ones called (October 28 and 29) it is expected that the negotiation will intensify on the details of the impact of personnel and the dismissal conditions proposed by the company.
The working party is concerned about two aspects. Both for the staff affected by the ERE, and for “the viability of those who remain and of the company in the future, so that it continues to maintain the level of quality,” explains the CCOO representative.
Many of the workers have accumulated a lot of seniority in Santillana and are at a “complicated” age to leave the labor market. “Most of the people are 50 years old or older, although there are also younger colleagues who have joined in recent years,” they add with concern from the staff, who will continue to concentrate in the coming days to demand that the company reconsider the measure.
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