The new collective agreement of Minerva Combustibles Las Palmas introduces starting in 2026 the central requirement to perform mandatory overtime under key operational circumstances, penalizing abandonment of the workplace and establishing a financial surcharge of 175% to compensate for this demand.
The terminal management imposes a labor framework of maximum availability to ensure a continuous supply of fuel to vessels. The text stipulates that overtime will be mandatory for staff in two critical scenarios: cases of force majeure —intended to prevent accidents or the loss of raw materials— and structural cases. The latter expressly includes coverage during peak production periods, urgent maintenance tasks, and, specifically, the lack of a replacement for a colleague at the docks or pump rooms, preventing the outgoing operator from leaving their position if it has not been occupied by the assigned reliever.
The compensation regime designed by the negotiating table balances this imposition through an identical surcharge for both types of additional shifts. Mandatory overtime —both due to force majeure and structural reasons— will be valued at 175% of an ordinary hour, and this same percentage will apply if the company opts for financial compensation or time-off compensation. To prevent these hours from counting towards the maximum annual limit set by current legislation, the terminal will prioritize compensation through forced time-off within the four months following their occurrence, provided that the accumulation of vessels or temporary incapacity leave allows it.
The obligation to extend the work shift directly affects operational personnel assigned to the 12-hour rotating shifts. This group includes loading masters, pump foremen, pump operators, jetty foremen, jetty officers, and jetty operators. These employees, who chain together cycles of four days of work and four days of rest in summer, and four days of work followed by six days of rest in winter, are bound by the agreement to the direct instructions of terminal manager Antonio Sueiras Zaurín, with voluntariness remaining solely for those hours outside the company’s structural needs.
The control of work times is reinforced with contractual and economic disciplinary tools in the processes of termination and disengagement. The agreement establishes that the ordinary hourly count —set at 1,826 hours annually— will only begin when the operator fully and effectively occupies their position, excluding preparation times. Furthermore, the shipping company has secured this level of operational demand through a mandatory probation period of six months for any position and a financial penalty in the case of voluntary resignation: any employee who decides to leave the company must provide 15 days’ notice or will face a direct deduction in their final settlement equivalent to one day’s salary for each omitted day.
