Spain withdraws stevedoring reform plan
The Spanish government has withdrawn its proposed stevedoring reform plan, having failed to win the support of the trade unions. Now, the government is to enter into direct negotiations with all concerned to draw up a document that all can support, although whether this will be sufficient to persuade the EU that Spain has come into line with competition directives in this area is open to debate.
The original plan would have seen the port stevedoring companies (the SAEPs) continue for a further six months. During this period, no new shareholders would be allowed to join, nor any existing ones leave.
During the first month of this transitory period, a forecast would be made as to the maximum cost of the workforce at that moment and how much it would cost to wind each SAGEP up. It would then be up to each shareholder to decide whether they wanted to remain part of the SAGEP or leave.
Workers would similarly be able to decide whether they wanted to leave the SAGEP and take up other offers of employment within the port; those that stayed would be made redundant and offered a severance package, before the SAGEP was eventually wound up.
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