In Jaén, New Agreement Raises Salary for Olive Workers

A new agree­ment signed by olive oil pro­duc­ers and unions in Spain’s Jaén province approves a salary raise for approx­i­mately 100,000 work­ers.

The agree­ment cov­ers the cur­rent har­vest and will last for four years. Workers will be given a 3.25 per­cent wage increase in the 2022/2023 sea­son.

This increase will bring an olive har­vester​’s salary to €57.40 per day. Operators of har­vest­ing machines’ wages will rise to €59,96, €60.81 for trac­tor dri­vers, and €56.19 for the other work­ers.

The agree­ment also ensures another salary raise in the next sea­son. That raise will be set for between 1 and 3.5 per­cent. Wages will grow from 1 to 3.5 per­cent in the fol­low­ing two years. Consumer price vari­a­tions will deter­mine the exact per­cent­age.

In a note, the Association of Young Farmers (Asaja) said that the goal of the new agree­ment goes beyond ​“reg­u­lat­ing work­ing hours and other con­di­tions between employer and employee.” It sets the con­di­tions to ​“ensure social peace in the coun­try­side and avoid breaches.”

Last November, Madrid approved new mea­sures to pro­tect sea­sonal work­ers’ rights and improve employ­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties in the field.

Those mea­sures reduced the num­ber of work­days needed for agri­cul­tural work­ers to access unem­ploy­ment sup­port and agrar­ian income from 20 days to 10 days. The increased sup­port is esti­mated to allow sea­sonal work­ers to col­lect €460 per month.

Financial sup­port for olive oil pro­duc­ers and work­ers in Jaén is needed because of the expected severe drop in the region’s olive har­vest. Jaén pro­duces the major­ity of Spain’s olive oil.

A few days ago, the farm­ing asso­ci­a­tion COAG Jaén warned of a pos­si­ble 140 thou­sand tons of olive oil for the cur­rent sea­son, which would be a his­toric low for the province.

In addi­tion to Asaja, the Confederation of Businessmen of Jaén, the Union of Small Farmers and Ranchers, the Workers General Union and the Workers’ Commission par­tic­i­pated in the nego­ti­a­tions.

The new labor arrange­ment will be effec­tive as soon as it is for­mally approved by the local author­i­ties and pub­lished in Jaén’s Official Gazette.

• Asaja-Jaén press note
• Spain Lowers Barriers for Agricultural Workers to Access Wage Subsidies
• In Jaén, Olive Oil Production Collapse Worse Than Expected