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The Committee noted previously that the General Union of Workers (UGT) had sent comments, by its communication of December 1999, on the application of the Convention with regard to the determination of wages for public employees residing outside Spain. The UGT states that these employees do not participate in the determination of their wages, which are subject to unilateral decisions by an Executive Committee of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Remuneration (CECIR). This Committee interprets the conclusion of collective agreements in an arbitrary manner, adapting them to national circumstances - as required by the legislation in force - but without any involvement of the trade unions. According to the UGT, such conduct implies a clear failure to respect the rights of participation recognized in the national legislation and in the Convention.

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report to the effect that employees residing outside Spain are approximately 5,000 in number and are excluded from the Unified Agreement by virtue of section 1.4 thereof, in view of the characteristics of this group and the heterogeneous nature of the legal standards which govern their labour situation. Since 2002, negotiations have been taking place for drawing up a standard governing minimum conditions, in order to standardize the conditions of work of staff subject to local legislation. These negotiations were on the point of being completed in April 2002 with an agreement which ultimately was not signed by the trade unions, because they had demanded as a condition that the legislation should cover a group accounting for a large proportion of all the staff in this category, and this would have completely distorted the purpose of the negotiated document. The Government indicates that negotiations for concluding the abovementioned agreement on minimum conditions are currently blocked, and that the administration is retaining the abovementioned text of April 2002 as a basis of any future negotiations.

The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any developments relating to any future negotiations in this regard.