Madrid/Brussels: Employees of fast-fashion giant Zara are preparing coordinated demonstrations outside flagship stores in seven European nations on November 28, coinciding with Black Friday – one of the retail sector’s busiest shopping days. The action aims to pressure parent company Inditex into restoring a pre-pandemic profit-sharing bonus system for store and warehouse workers.
Organized under the banner of Inditex’s European Works Council, the protests are being led by Spain’s prominent CCOO labor union in partnership with counterparts in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and Portugal. Demonstrators plan to gather in high-traffic urban locations, highlighting what they describe as unfair distribution of the company’s substantial earnings amid rising living costs.
A key spokesperson for CCOO at Inditex explained that the bonus program, which once rewarded frontline staff based on overall performance, was eliminated in the wake of COVID-19 disruptions. With Inditex now reporting robust post-pandemic recovery and record revenues, unions argue it’s time to reinstate equitable rewards for those driving sales.
This isn’t the first time Zara workers have targeted peak shopping periods: similar actions in Spain during the 2022 Black Friday season successfully secured significant pay hikes months later. Inditex, the world’s leading fashion retailer by sales, has yet to issue an official response to the latest demands. Analysts suggest the timing could amplify visibility but risks disrupting consumer experiences during a critical revenue period for the industry.