The Damm group has reached an agreement with the workers of Agama after weeks of negotiations. Due to the factory closure in PalmaThe company will relocate five of the 14 workers, and the remaining nine will receive severance pay higher than initially agreed upon. However, according to Jesús Ávila, spokesperson for the Agama workers, the five who will remain will retain their current salaries and other employment benefits, such as seniority. Sources within the company told ARA Baleares that a social support plan has been designed, which includes the possibility of redeployment for 100% of the workforce to other companies within the group, most of them in Mallorca. Furthermore, Damm stated that they are committed to offering "an individualized solution to all those affected." As for the workers who do not accept the redeployment plan and decide to leave the company voluntarily, the agreement reached with Damm includes improved severance packages.

New plot twist in the conflict between the workers of Servei Ferroviaris de Mallorca (SFM) and the management of the public company. Four days after signing the first part of the agreement to call off the protestsThe works council has warned of this: "We demand that, sometime this week, management urgently convene the works council to formally present a proposal, or we will have no other option but to reactivate the strikes."

The works council of Mallorca Railway Services (SFM) and management will meet again next week to try to make progress in negotiations regarding safety, amid growing tension and the threat of strikes and protests by the workers. Both sides met this Thursday in a meeting where SFM presented union representatives with a document outlining the status of the 48 measures demanded by the works council. According to the public company's manager, José Ramón Orta, it is now up to the workers to analyze the proposal. Orta explained that the document is the result of an analysis prepared by technical staff and includes an evaluation of each demand, as well as a planned implementation schedule. The manager emphasized that virtually none of the points require political intervention, except for those related to the outsourcing of services. However, the works council considers the assessment highly critical. Its president, Ricardo Mas, described the document as "devoid of content" and lamented the vagueness of the responses. "It's like Groundhog Day. They say they've worked hard, but the points are just rambling: that it will be studied, that the appropriate tool will be sought…," he remarked. Mas warned that if concrete commitments don't emerge from the next meeting, a schedule of protests will be launched. In fact, he acknowledged that at the beginning of Thursday's meeting, the committee even walked out with the intention of going to the Balearic Islands Arbitration and Mediation Tribunal (TAMIB) to formally register strikes. "We can't wait any longer. It's the only way to get results," he stated.

The Balearic Islands ended 2025 with 101,608 self-employed workers, the highest figure ever recorded in the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA). In the last year, this group grew by 2,126 people, a 2.1% increase compared to December 2024, confirming the upward trend in self-employment in the archipelago. This growth is unevenly distributed among the islands, with Mallorca accounting for nearly 79% of the self-employed, with 76,001 professionals. It is followed by Menorca, with 14,102 members; Ibiza, with 7,612; and Formentera, with 928. This snapshot demonstrates the significant role of the self-employed group throughout the islands and their crucial contribution to the local economy.

Registered unemployment at public employment offices in the Balearic Islands fell by 1,260 people in January compared to the previous month (-4.3%) and by 1,515 people compared to the first month of last year (-5.13%). Thus, the archipelago begins the year slightly above 28,000 unemployed (28,045), according to data published this Tuesday by the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy. At the beginning of the year, the sectors with the most unemployed were services (21,219, down 1,104 from December) and construction (3,088, down 93), while the sectors with the fewest unemployed were agriculture (353, down 12) and industry (1,209). Regarding gender, of the 28,045 unemployed registered in January, 15,842 were women and 12,203 were men. Unemployment among young people under 25 stood at 3,769, of whom 2,104 were men and 1,665 were women. In the last month of the year, unemployment among foreigners stood at 6,617 people, after falling 7.88% compared to December and 0.93% compared to the previous year. In January, 20,013 contracts were registered in the Balearic Islands, 6.5% fewer than the previous year. Of these, 13,188 were permanent contracts (-5.86%) and 6,825 were temporary contracts (-7.72%). The Balearic Islands are approaching half a million people affiliated with Social Security.

The Balearic Islands registered 491,750 Social Security affiliates in January, 8,560 fewer than the previous month (-1.71%), according to data released Tuesday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. Year-on-year, affiliation in the Autonomous Community has increased by 10,882 workers compared to January 2015, a 2.26% rise. Across Spain, the labor market has grown by almost 480,000 Social Security affiliates in the last 12 months, specifically 477,818 affiliates in the original series, reaching a total of 21,573,632. This represents a 2.3% year-on-year increase and the highest level for a January in the entire series. Specifically, in the Balearic Islands, the general Social Security system has 388,974 contributors, 7,827 of whom are registered as domestic workers and 2,228 as agricultural workers. In addition, there are 100,987 people registered as self-employed and 1,790 as maritime workers. Furthermore, at the beginning of the year, 138 workers in the archipelago were on Temporary Employment Regulation Files (ERTEs), 68 women and 60 men.

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The management of Mallorca Railway Services (SFM) and the works council will meet again next Tuesday after reaching an agreement this Friday on fifteen of the 48 requests submitted regarding railway safety, although the creation of a safety committee was not addressed. Speaking to the media after the meeting, SFM manager José Ramón Orta indicated that the negotiations are "on the right track," while the president of the works council, Ricardo Mas, celebrated the move "from doing nothing to doing something, which is always better." Mas also lamented that the safety committee for train traffic and the internalization of contracts in sensitive safety areas were still not discussed. After more than two hours of meetings, the workers' representative criticized the company for not providing a clear, structured, or formal response regarding the 48 safety measures presented.

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The works council of Mallorca Railway Services (SFM) has decided to postpone the partial strikes and has scheduled a new meeting with the company's management for next Friday to continue negotiating improvements in safety matters.

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The management of Mallorca Railway Services (SFM) took a step towards dialogue with the works council on Tuesday, after workers agreed in an assembly to call partial strikes to demand improvements in the safety of the railway network. The meeting, scheduled for Wednesday morning, aims to defuse the conflict before the protest materializes. Union representatives and the management of the public company will meet at the headquarters to open a channel of dialogue based on the demands expressed by the workers, who announced the mobilizations after months of complaints about deficiencies in infrastructure safety, equipment maintenance, and other technical aspects of the network. During the first assembly, held on Monday, delegates approved by majority vote the call for work stoppages, likely compatible with the nationwide train drivers' strike scheduled for February 9, 10, and 11, although the protest has not yet been formally registered. The unions argued that the action is not intended as an attack on the service, but rather as a tool to denounce situations they consider unsustainable and that endanger both staff and passengers. The works council has confirmed it will attend the meeting "in a constructive spirit, but with the firmness the situation demands," according to a statement released this Tuesday. The unions emphasized that their goal is to reach "concrete and binding" agreements on safety, with effective measures and clear commitments to prevent the recurrence of risky situations. "Safety is non-negotiable," they stressed. The call for partial strikes comes in a context marked by the train accidents in Adamuz (Córdoba) and Gelida (Barcelona), fatal incidents that have reopened the debate on the safety standards of Spanish railway infrastructure and which SFM workers have cited as a point of reference to justify their actions. For their part, SFM management and the Balearic Government have issued reassuring messages to the public, maintaining that the railway network in Mallorca is safe and that historic investments have been made in the safety and maintenance of trains, tracks, and associated systems. The Minister of Mobility, José Luis Mateo, expressed his willingness to engage in dialogue but emphasized the need for union demands to be "specific and well-founded."

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Workers' wages in the Balearic Islands remain below the national average, despite having registered the largest increase in the country since 2007. This is according to the study 'Wage Evolution 2007-2025' prepared by EADA Business School and the consulting firm ICSA Grup, which was presented this Wednesday.

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The data shows that almost everyone in the Balearic Islands is employed. But the reality is more complex: thousands of people are unemployed for months or years, and many workers cannot sustain a life plan with current wages. The average number of people registered with Social Security was 585,000 in December, and sectors such as services and hospitality are demanding workers. But it is precisely these sectors that have the highest unemployment rates. Of the 29,305 people without work in the Islands, 22,323 are from the services sector and 3,181 from construction: they represent 87% of the total for December – data from the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy.

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The National Police in Palma have arrested two women accused of running a restaurant with undocumented workers without contracts, sometimes paying them with a dish from the menu for eight- to ten-hour shifts.

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The workers of the General Agrarian Association of Mallorca (Agama) met this Thursday with the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Agriculture to find solutions to the crisis currently affecting the dairy plant, which will be closed next year will stop buying milk from dairy farms in MallorcaNeither the employees nor the government have yet met with Agama's management to discuss their future and that of the company.

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These weren't the best of times: it was the era of Primo de Rivera's dictatorship. Even so, it was then that Llorenç Bisbal, a shoemaker who would later become mayor of Palma, insisted on uniting the various workers' associations of Mallorca under a common acronym: the General Union of Workers (UGT). That was in the now-defunct Casa del Pueblo (People's House) in Palma on October 4, 1925, one hundred years ago.

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On October 15, the UGT and CCOO organized two-hour work stoppages in all workplaces with the aim of "demonstrating that the world of work does not look the other way and also singles out Israel as a genocidal state," explained José Luis García, Secretary General of the Workers' Commissions of the Balearic Islands. Both unions formally registered the call for action in the Islands (which will also be carried out in the rest of Spain) this Tuesday with the Ministry of the Presidency. All employees—both in public and private companies—will be able to show their support for Palestine from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. (morning shifts), from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. if they work in the afternoon, and from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. if they work at night.

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The Velódromo bar, managed by the Gira-Sol Association for the past five years, is closing this Tuesday because the current concession expires and the Regional Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sports "has not been able to issue a new tender, nor is it possible to extend the service concession," the organization explained in a statement on Instagram. For all these reasons, the Association is forced to close the establishment where vocational training courses were offered to create job opportunities for people with mental health problems, where services and food were offered, and where more than twenty employees worked.

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In 2026 Agama will stop purchasing milk from dairy farms in Mallorca. This fact worries not only the island's farmers but also the factory workers, who don't know what will happen to their future. "We are afraid the company will close," Jesús Ávila, the legal representative of the Agama workers, told ARA Baleares. The reduction in milk purchases from local dairy farms could also lead to a decrease in the production of products at the factory, "which is experiencing its darkest moment," according to a statement issued by the company's Legal Representation of Workers (RLT).

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Unemployment fell by 10,500 people in the third quarter in the Balearic Islands to 41,200, a 20.3% decrease compared to the previous quarter, according to data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) published by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

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Unions continue negotiations with companies handling to put an end to the strike staff that has caused delays in baggage collection and canceled flights at some airports in Spain, including Son Sant Joan. UGT is asking subcontracted companies to Aena "that they value their workers and abide by the signed agreements," explains José Negreira, secretary of the UGT airline sector in the Balearic Islands. "We cannot allow them to be slaves. We want them to have a normal life," he denounces.

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When the government internalized 315 IB3 employees on February 1, 2023, it began a process that should have ended more than two years ago—the agency's total workforce is approximately 450. The government took on workers who came from different companies and had diverse working conditions, inequalities that have yet to be resolved because the workforce integration process has not been carried out.

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The Mallorca Railway Services Works Council (SFM) has issued a statement expressing its "full" support. to train users, which in recent days have suffered delays, congestion, frequency cuts, and an alarming lack of information, "a consequence of incidents, breakdowns, and poorly planned construction work." "Situations like those experienced last Wednesday and Friday reflect a chronic lack of coordination, where decisions are made from offices without consulting either employees or users," the Committee emphasized in its letter, noting that the result is "an overwhelmed service, with constant improvisation and poor management."

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