Moroccan seasonal workers create their first union in Spain
Established in 2021, the bilateral agreement on circular migration allows for the mass recruitment of female labor in Morocco, notably to harvest strawberries in Huelva, Andalusia. Denouncing abuses and harsh working conditions, seasonal workers have formed their own union.
“We have found a way to denounce [the dismissal] and we have opened the way for legal action against all these unfair dismissals,” the newly formed union Jornaleras de Huelva en Lucha (“Day Laborers of Huelva in Struggle”) said in a social media post, as reported by the left-wing Spanish newspaper El Salto .
The organization, which describes itself as “a self-managed group of female agricultural workers and handlers” from Huelva (Andalusia), filed a complaint against the dismissal of a seasonal worker hired in Morocco, her country of origin, on a fijo discontinuo (“permanent discontinuous”) contract. This contract provides for a four-year employment relationship, with periods of seasonal work in Spain and returns to her home country. Since the Spanish company that hired the worker did not return her employment within this timeframe, the union considers this an unfair dismissal, in the absence of a justified reason or formal communication, notes El Salto.
This organization is the first of its kind to represent Moroccan seasonal workers in the Gecco circular migration program implemented by Spain since 1999, notes the website La
Courrier International
