The meeting took place yesterday at 4:00 p.m. at the offices of the F League lawyers. The five unions that represent Spanish professional footballers (FUTPRO, AFE, Futbolistas ON, CCOO and UGT) sat at the table in front of the president of the competition, Beatriz Álvarez, also the vice-president Rubén Alcaine, alongside the lawyers of the Liga F and personalities of Atlético and Athletic, who represent the clubs – it was strange that Levante wasn’t there as a visible leader of the independent clubs (who don’t have a men’s or women’s team in the First Division), which happens regularly. An hour and a half later, everyone got up without agreement. They are scheduled today at the SIMA (Interconfederal Conciliation and Conciliation Service FSP) offices in Madrid to try to resolve the situation, as Spanish football players have already warned that they will go on strike for at least the first two days of the F League . Angry because the collective agreement is not being improved. Not economical or anything.
For football players, it is not just an economic battle but also a war for the professionalization of the sport, which was established under the agreement and has stalled since meetings began on January 25. That’s why the unions sent an email last Friday – with a copy to the Ministry of Labor – warning of the impending strike. An announcement that, according to League F, was very surprising, even though there has been no white smoke for 18 months; although they understand that the agreement needs to be repaired. But that’s not happening for now.
The unions are calling for a gradual increase in the minimum wage in three years to 20,000, 25,000 and 30,000 euros gross per year (it is now 16,000 euros). Although employers verbally offered increases to 16,500, 17,500 and 19,000 in May, they backed out in June on the grounds that their budgets had been undermined by recent Higher Sports Council (CSD) decisions to allocate a 20 -percent level was required. of commercial income to the RFEF and the judiciary, respectively, which approved the increase in reception fees and sanctions for the arbitration procedure. And here the employers persist in not touching the salaries, even though they agree to suppress the bias (currently it is 75%), because they understand – even though they are proposing a retroactive regulation – that the players are not just five Worked hours a day.
It remains to be seen what will happen with help in the form of an arbitration agreement – like the one the association made with football players during the World Cup, when they all received 15,000 euros to be close to their loved ones – and with the requirements of playing on football pitches. Turf (terrain changes have been documented to increase cruciate ligament tears). However, this was not discussed at the meeting in the offices of the League F lawyers, as they remained on the economic side because everyone knew that the appointment with SIMA would be more clarifying.
In any case, the employer’s response was not a categorical rejection, although he pointed out that the required salary was excessive. “We have to talk to the clubs because we didn’t have time,” they said. So they hope to release another version in less than 24 hours. Especially because Liga F has no interest in delays or criticism, since the Spanish players are now in the spotlight because they are world champions and because Luis Rubiales and his non-consensual kiss with Jenni Hermoso caused a scandal. The clubs are also not interested because, among other things, they cannot earn any money from the games and have to pay the footballers’ salaries except for the two days of the strike, the match days.
The ball was thrown by the unions and is now in the employers’ court. However, it is expected that SIMA will consolidate positions and prevent an immediate attack. The start of the championship is scheduled for this weekend.
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