A court in Almeria has ruled that an agreement between two of Spain’s biggest unions discriminates against some 26,000 women working in the fruit, vegetable and flower packing industry.
Under the collective deal signed by Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and General Workers Union (UGT), women in this sector earn a lower salary than their male colleagues who work in warehouses and packhouses, even though their jobs “are practically the same”, according to the court.
The case was brought against vegetable and melon producer Acrena by another union, CSIF, who claimed that women packers were paid €0.23 less per hour than their male colleagues, amounting to a wage differential of around €40 per month.
Acrena maintained that the male packhouse workers had a more physically demanding job, and claimed its position was justified by the provincial collective agreement that had been signed several years ago by CCOO and UGT.
The sentence noted: “although there are two distinct professional categories with their own functions, in practice it is evident that the work carried out by both sexes…is practically the same”.
The judge ruled that there was “discrimination on the basis of gender and violation of the principle of equal pay for female packing workers”.
The company has agreed to comply with the court’s ruling that it should equalise the salaries of male and female packhouse employees. At the same time it is has launched an appeal with the High Court of Justice of Andalusia.
“We hope that the future drafting of the agreement takes into account the recommendations that our union has raised to the negotiating committee,” CSIF said. “If this is not the case, we will undertake further legal actions that we consider appropriate to eliminate this attack against equality.”
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