ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Two trade associations in Spain representing employers in the professional cleaning sector have jointly called on the government to agree to the correction of contractual financial conditions. Failure to do so in the current inflationary climate, they warn, poses a risk to the stability of thousands of workers.

The Professional Association of Cleaning Companies (Aspel) and the Association of Federations of National Cleaning Employers (AFELIN) are proposing reforms of the Law of Deindexation of the Economy. This is a legal framework currently preventing cleaning companies from updating the prices of contracts already entered into with the Government.

They argue the situation represents a real financial problem for companies due to increasing costs: soaring inflation, rise in the minimum wage and social security contributions, energy costs, etc. According to them, many services businesses working for government are operating at a loss.

A reform of the law would allow companies to pass on price increases associated with cleaning contracts without putting the stability of thousands of workers in jeopardy.

In Spain more than 570,000 people are employed in the cleaning service industry and there are almost 36,000 companies (mostly SMEs). The sector represents 1.05 per cent of GDP and two per cent of all the country's employees.