Freedom of association

For Caja Madrid, freedom of association also means equality of treatment and opportunity, in that no employee may be discriminated against for being a trade union member or representative. In fact, when employee representatives are 100% occupied with trade union duties, they still enjoy exactly the same conditions as when occupying their post (training, professional development, performance-related pay, etc.).

Untitled Margarita Palmer Vidal Branch 8974

An open, transparent dialogue is maintained with workers’ representatives, based on mutual commitment and shared responsibility for seeking the betterment of staff working and social conditions. As part of this dialogue, the company holds monthly meetings with each trade union represented.

This dialogue and spirit of mutual responsibility is borne out in the 79 enterprise-level agreements signed between 1996 and 2008, with working conditions that improve on the terms of the industry-wide collective bargaining agreements, particularly in the areas of professional promotion and development, the results evaluation system, supplementary pension schemes, individualised working hours per centre, favourable terms for employee loans and advances, partial and early retirement schemes, and others.

At presence, there are seven trade union sections present in Caja Madrid, reflecting the outcome of the November 2006 union elections.