State agreement for pasta and paper registered with increases until 2028

The General Directorate of Labour has registered and ordered the publication of the state collective agreement for the pulp, paper, and cardboard sector for the 2026-2028 period, agreed upon by the employers’ association ASPAPEL and the unions UGT-FICA and FSC-CC.OO. The resolution, signed on October 2, 2026, by the Director General María Nieves González García, is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) no. 255, of October 14, 2026, under reference BOE-A-2026-21427. The text guarantees salary increases of 3% in 2026 and 2.25% in 2027 and 2028, and reduces the annual working day to 1,736 hours starting next year.

The resolution is issued under article 90, paragraphs 2 and 3, of the Workers’ Statute and Royal Decree 713/2010, of May 28, on the registration and deposit of collective agreements. The agreement, with code 99003955011981, was signed on July 8, 2026, and corrected on September 28, 2026, via a minute dated September 10. It replaces the 2023-2025 agreement, published on October 11, 2023 (BOE-A-2023-21041), whose salary tables for 2026 were published on March 12, 2026 (BOE-A-2026-5848).

Salary increases and revision clause

The agreement sets an increase of 3% on the Gross Theoretical Total Remuneration (RTTB) of each worker in 2026, retroactive from January 1, 2026, with the subsequent payment of arrears. For 2027 and 2028, the agreed increase is 2.25% for each fiscal year, calculated based on the RTTB of the previous year.

• 2026: 3% on the RTTB, effective from January 1, 2026.
• 2027: 2.25%, effective from January 1, 2027.
• 2028: 2.25%, effective from January 1, 2028.
• Revision clause: if the actual national general CPI for the period from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2028, exceeds 7.5%, the starting tables and the 2029 RTTB will be updated by the percentage of that excess.

The tables in Annex III act as the minimum conditions for the sector. For reference, the monthly agreement salary for professional group 2 employees is 1,607.39 euros, while that of group 11 reaches 2,766.01 euros. Any surplus resulting from applying the increase to the tables is recorded in a separate box as “Company Salary Supplement” (CSE).

Working day, vacations, and remote work

The maximum annual working day of effective work will be 1,744 hours in 2026 and 1,736 hours for each of the remaining years of validity. Paid vacations remain at 30 calendar days, of which at least 24 shall be working days, with preferential enjoyment between June 21 and September 21.

• Overtime: cap of 80 hours per year, with an individual option between payment, compensatory rest of one hour per hour of overtime, or rest of one and a half hours without a bonus.
• Working time record: daily, objective, and reliable, kept for four years at the disposal of the staff, legal representation, and the Labor and Social Security Inspectorate.
• Remote work: considered regular from 30% of the working day within a reference period of three months; reversibility requires one month’s notice.
• Work calendar: must be published before December 22 of the preceding year.

Employment, equality, and oversight bodies

Regarding employment, the agreement regulates compensation for early retirement before age 64: 7,500 euros at age 60, 5,000 at 61, 4,000 at 62, and 3,500 at 63, with a limit of 8% of the workforce. Partial retirement requires twelve months’ notice and cannot exceed 10% of the workforce annually, ensuring that the replacement contract is full-time.

• Equality plans: mandatory for companies with fifty or more workers, unless they have their own plan.
• Joint Interpretation and Oversight Commission (CMIVC): six employer representatives and six union representatives, with ordinary meetings every three months.
• Joint Technical Commission: will address, during the term of validity, the increase in temporary disabilities, the protocol for adverse weather events, life insurance, the rescheduling of holidays, the accumulation of union hours, and sustainable mobility plans.

Scope and working conditions

The agreement is binding for all companies and individuals in the pasta, paper, and cardboard manufacturing sector and is applicable throughout the territory of the State. Personnel from forestry operations are excluded, and individuals in professional groups 11 to 14 are not governed by the remuneration conditions, although they are governed by the tables as an annual minimum.

• Probationary period: two months for groups 4 to 14 —six months for personnel hired by qualification—, 15 working days for groups 2 and 3, and seven working days for groups 0 and 1.
• End of temporary contract: compensation of twelve days’ salary per year of service.
• Individual transfer: compensation of two monthly payments of actual salary and a minimum notice of 30 days.
• Temporary disability: supplement up to 100% of the actual salary in the event of a work accident or professional illness.
• Per diems: 75% of the daily agreement salary for meals away from home and 200% when it is necessary to eat and stay overnight away.
• Work clothing: two units per person, with a usage period of one year.

The agreement takes effect retroactively and has a validity of three years, until December 31, 2028, renewable annually unless expressly terminated before the last quarter of 2028. For the sector’s workforce, the publication consolidates back pay, a closed salary schedule until 2028, and a reduction of the working day by eight hours annually starting in 2027, in addition to strengthening the joint mechanisms for monitoring the agreement.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 255, October 14, 2026, Sec. III. Other provisions, page 137215 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-21427).