Related news: Mallorca restaurants' frustrations with the hospitality agreement

Juanmi Ferrer, president of the CAEB Restaurants Association, is once more advocating a separate pay and working conditions agreement for the restaurant sector . The association is represented at the negotiations for the hospitality industry collective bargaining agreement, but he argues that this arrangement is outdated.

"When we started together 40 years ago maybe it made more sense. We were the same family. Now we're no longer brothers. We're first cousins and we no longer live in the same house. Many things have changed. The hotel sector operates on the basis of knowing how many rooms they'll have a month in advance. We don't.

"In the past - and this is still the case in some regions - the greatest weight in the hospitality agreement was given to the restaurant sector. It was the foundation of the beginning of the hospitality industry in Spain . Before we started creating hotels, restaurants hosted weddings and other celebrations. I believe the time has come for a separate agreement for the restaurant sector or for an exceptional regime within the framework of a joint agreement."

The restaurants can feel like uninvited guests in what is in effect a one-to-one between the hoteliers and unions. "It's not fair and we're helpless. We don't have union representation, no one listens to us . We have to conduct negotiations where we have no say in votes and no one takes our specific issues into account. The restaurants and nightlife sectors are truly second-class players."

The unions have been pushing for a pay deal of a 19% increase over three years . For Ferrer, the most the restaurants can afford is an increase linked to the Consumer Price Index. "That would be fair. Workers wouldn't lose purchasing power. We want to pay workers well and we believe they should be paid more. What we can't do is go along with certain figures."

The hoteliers have been making much about absenteeism, and this is an issue for the restaurants as well. " Absenteeism on Fridays and Mondays, for example . It's incomprehensible and is highly suspicious, an extension of the weekend. It's an absenteeism that doesn't appear in the statistics, but one that we all suffer from. Imagine a staff of four people and someone gives you notice the night before. It's possible that you can't even open the kitchen. You have to close earlier. You provide poor service. There's little solidarity with the team and with the company, especially in small establishments."

A further union demand is for a reduced working week - down from 40 hours to 37.5 or 35 hours. "There's no way we can do this. In fact, why don't we look for ways to extend overtime so people can earn more money? How can we reduce working hours in a region where there's a lack of housing, where there's a lack of staff? And unions are demanding that hiring periods be extended to nine, ten, eleven months. The reality is that there isn't enough tourist volume to keep the restaurant sector open for more than six months in some tourism areas."

Prices are inevitably a matter that attracts much attention and comment. When he became president last September, Ferrer suggested that the time had perhaps come for the restaurants to lower their prices. The talk is now more one of containment. But even this will be difficult.

"We were dreaming of a drop in inflation this year that would allow us not to raise prices. The restaurant sector is trying to be very responsible about that. There are still those who offer set menus and daily specials. There's a desire not to raise prices. The constantly rising price model is an American model that will lead you to spend 50 or 60 euros when you go out to dinner. But we were affected last year. A record season for tourist arrivals; for us it was 12 to 14% less revenue."

And this affects the scope for pay rises, a reason given for the lower revenue in 2024 having been higher airline prices and higher hotel prices . For all this, the restaurants find themselves having to accept what the hoteliers agree to in terms of pay.

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