Vodafone staff agree to unpaid holidays

Labor representatives and the management of Vodafone España have reached an agreement under which the 4,000 workers at the mobile giant’s Spanish division have agreed to take two weeks unpaid leave next year.

The measure forms part of a cost-saving drive aimed at avoiding Vodafone opting for a labor-adjustment plan (ERE), sources close to the negotiations said Thursday.

The company’s new collective-bargaining agreement also includes the possibility of employees taking Fridays off without pay or to have their working day reduced by one hour, with the concomitant reduction in wages.

In addition, the agreement entails a reduction of 10 percent in bonus payments linked to the achievement of company goals during the fiscal year starting April 1, 2012.

In turn the company agreed not to file an ERE during the period nor outsource work during the duration of the agreement. Labor representatives warned a few weeks ago that the company was planning to cut its workforce by 10 percent.

The agreement also calls for an increase in wages in the second year of its duration linked to the outcome of the company’s gross operating profit in the form of EBITDA.

Vodafone España’s revenues in the first nine months of the 2011/12 UK fiscal year declined 8.8 percent as the company faced stiffer competition from smaller rivals.