Construction launches an employer association to represent the 400,000 self-employed workers in the sector

Updated Monday, January 29, 2024-02:34

Self-employed construction professionals represent almost a third of the total workers in the sector and from now on they will have their own employers' association. The

National Construction Confederation (CNC)

, the majority organization in the sector, is preparing the creation of its own association for the group that aspires to represent the 400,000 employees that constitute it.

The CNC, in collaboration with the Association of Self-Employed Workers (ATA), will launch the Association of Self-Employed Construction Workers of Spain (CNC Autónomos) under the presidency of

Rafael Sánchez Alcalá

, who also presides over Fadeco Contratistas, the Andalusian employers' association of the construction, since mid-2018.

The construction sector brings together more than 12% of the self-employed in Spain, which already exceeds 3.3 million and the new organization will advocate for promoting the prevention of occupational risks, specific and adapted to the peculiarities of the workers. autonomous. 95% of the companies in the sector are SMEs or self-employed.

One of the lines of work of the organization is to promote the adhesion of the self-employed and their employees, if they have them, to the sectoral pension plan of the construction sector, an instrumental plan of complementary benefits that will seek to provide greater protection to self-employed and workers in their future retirement.

The CNC employers' association chose VidaCaixa as the entity responsible for managing said plan, which is known as the first large collective plan complementary to the public pension system, the so-called second pillar of the system. The agreement affects 130,000 companies, which are those integrated into the confederation, and the funds managed from the contributions could rise to 3.5 billion euros.

The initiative to now launch an employer association for self-employed construction workers also seeks to adapt and integrate Vocational Training in the field of self-employment, at a time when this educational modality requires a major transformation in Spain and in which the lack of Labor is one of the main problems for the sector. Unions and employers have warned on several occasions that they would need to recruit at least 700,000 employees in the coming years to cover the current demand for construction of houses and infrastructure.

CNC Autónomos will have the advice and institutional support of ATA, from where associates will be helped to enhance their businesses through individualized and free advice on all those matters they need, being able to make use of the agreements and discounts that ATA maintains with different companies.