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Spain – Workers rights protected under new agreement in Castilla-La Mancha

By - 14 March 2017

After around six months of negotiation, members of two of the largest union in Spain have signed an agreement with the Association of Castilla-La Mancha Gaming Entrepreneurs (EJUCAMAN) which will help further protect gaming workers rights in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha.

Known as the Collective Regional Agreement of Casinos and Casino Gaming establishments in Castilla-La Mancha union officials have expressed their hope that other similar agreements could soon be reached across Spain. The agreement was signed by two of the largest unions in Spain: The Workers’ Commissions (Spanish: Comisiones Obreras, CCOO) and The General Worker’s Union of Spain (Spanish: UniĂłn General de Trabajadores UGT). The new agreement will be in place until 2020.

According to a statement released by the UGT: “As the majority union in the sector with more than 90 per cent representation in Castilla-La Mancha UGT and CCOO, have managed to regulate the working conditions of workers in the sector, which were hitherto unprotected. . . This agreement solves the situation, which until now we considered to be serious for the workers for the new casinos and casino gaming establishments that have recently opened in the region.”

According to the statement agreement was needed as workers were unprotected: “These workers did not have a legal framework for the sector which would have established their working conditions so that their labour rights were diminished in a legal limbo, compared to workers in other sectors.” The union said that in the future all companies in the sector “must avoid situations of unfair competition, propitiated by the central government’s labour reform and ensure dignified conditions for all workers in this sector.”

The UGT also described the text of the new agreement as a “pioneer in all Spain” and is the first agreement of this kind to be signed in the country. The union also expressed its hope that other regions would “continue on the path started with this negotiation.”

The agreement was in response to the rapid growth of the gaming industry in the region. The Gran Casino de La Mancha opened in September last year. A total of €3m has been invested in the casino which will provide around 90 to 120 new jobs. The project which is operated by the Grupo Ballesteros, the Valladolid, Spain-based operator and casino businessman Sánchez Colilla, was first announced in March after the Governing Council of Castilla-La Mancha authorised the opening of a new casino in the town. Sánchez Colilla operates a total of eight gaming establishments in Spain and already has four casinos in the autonomous region of Castilla-La Mancha.

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