A few days ago, Barça’s management committee reached an agreement with the first team players to defer part of their salary for the next few years. The footballers accepted, after more than a month of talks, the deferral of a total of 172 million euros that will recover, depending on the concept, in three or four years. The measure was key to reducing the impact of the health crisis in the 2020/2021 financial year, the closure of which will depend on the board winning the January 24 election. A decision that drew attention, but which was not the only one that was approved in the framework of the wage negotiation. The more than 500 non-sporting employees that the entity has on its payroll will also help to dispel the shadow of bankruptcy in the short term.
The representatives of these workers closed a pact on Monday that will mean a cut of almost three million euros thanks to the deferral (until October 2022) of 15% in salaries of more than 150,000 euros per year, d 10% in those between 100,000 and 150,000, 5% in those between 55,000 and 100,000 and 2% in those between 45,000 and 55,000. To this measure is added an ERTO of 85% of the salary that has affected 77 men and women from different departments since Tuesday.
Barça’s staff are making an effort of 172 million to save the club from bankruptcy
It is the second temporary regulation dossier the club has applied in recent months due to the covid. The first lasted until the opening of the transfer market, in which Barça incorporated Pjanic and Dest. Now, on the other hand, the club does not intend to stop considering hiring in the winter market due to having an ERTO in place, which alerts the Barça works council, which understands that if there is no has money to pay workers on payroll would not be ethical, for example, pay a transfer to Manchester City to repatriate central Eric Garcia.
“From an aesthetic and political point of view, it is debatable. However, if we leave this aside, an ERTO and signing is legally compatible,” explains Labor lawyer David Vilajoana. While the regulations say no new hires can be made while an ERTO is applied, it also sets out some exceptions. And it is when the person who is affected by the temporary regulation dossier cannot perform the function that the company needs to cover, whether for training, qualification or other objective and justified reasons. In other words, “if what I need is a defense but I have affected with ERTO a person in charge of selling tickets, it is obvious that this person can not occupy the position of footballer,” adds Pere Vidal, professor of labor law at the UOC.
Sell Junior Firpo to anticipate the arrival of Eric Garcia
The difference between what happened in the summer and what is happening now is that first-team players are not affected by a pay cut. “Barça’s lawyers know very well what they are doing,” said Vidal. The fact that an agreement has been reached to defer the salary gives room for Barça to sign without problems this winter – beyond the moral issue. “If the unilateral transfer had been made, he could still have hired a player. Because he is legally authorized to do so. However, in the event that the footballer decides to take the club to court, he would be charged with reasons to win. justifies that you have to unilaterally lower salaries if in the meantime you are signing players? This condition would have been taken into account “.
The pre-candidates, on the lookout
However, in addition to possible additions to the first team, the struggle to sign new employment contracts with a current employment record also threatens those profiles that the next Barça president wants to incorporate once he wins the elections. For example, a new CEO, who in the case of Laporta could be the former general manager of Valencia and Mallorca, Mateu Alemany. Or, as Víctor Font intends, to open an area of behavior with Toni Nadal, who would also have a salary, at the head. Barça workers also believe that signing these new faces with an ERTO in operation would be “legally debatable” and an attack on the entity’s code of ethics.
While there is an ERTO in place, a company – in this case, Barça – can make redundancies and hire other people for their position. For example, change the manager. But what it can’t do is hire someone to perform functions that could be done by one of the people affected by the regulatory filing. And here the line is very fine. “Between a non-sports worker and a footballer, the difference is clear. But in office staff, it should be justified that none of those affected can perform this function,” Vidal details.
Antoni Bassas, number two in Víctor Font’s pre-candidacy for the presidency of Barça
“It is understandable that a new president wants to incorporate his trusted people. And he can do so, although workers will possibly demand that before spending with new additions those who are affected by an ERTO be reinstated. considering that the file affects very specific sectors, such as the Museum and the stadium, which have had to close, and that once they reopen they will re-incorporate these employees “, adds Vilajoana.
Beyond this ethical and legal conflict, there is confidence among Barça workers that the new president will want to start his term on a good footing and will not risk putting his employees against it. At least that’s what they expect in the offices of Aristides Maillol, where they are convinced that after the election, when the new president wants to incorporate his trusted people, the ERTO will rise to the 77 men and women of the club. Hopefully, it will coincide with the return of the first fans to the Camp Nou.
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