Improvements for Spanish petrol attendants

A two-year deal covering 35,000 Spanish petrol station attendants will provide them with better protected against sudden transfers. Employers will have to provide reasons for any transfer and adequate notice. The agreement, backdated to January 2001, provides for a 3.0% increase this year and forecast inflation plus 0.3% in 2002. In both years there will be retrospective increases if inflation is higher than expected.

* The CCOO union confederation says that pay increases averaged 3.42% in the first nine months of the year. Out of a total of 3,353 agreements only 1,206 have been newly negotiated; the rest are multi-year agreements already in place. Inflation in Spain is currently 3.0% (October).