On the lawfulness of an agreement establishing an electoral constituency for the election of employees' representatives in Glovoapp Spain Platform, SL

Commentary on Ruling 76/2026 of the National High Court, delivered on 27 April

Abstract

Judgment No. 76/2026 of the National High Court concerns the challenge to an agreement concluded between Glovo and UGT before the Interconfederal Mediation and Arbitration Service (SIMA), whereby regional (Autonomous Community-based) workplaces were established as electoral constituencies for the purposes of employee representation. The Court dismissed the claim brought by CCOO, holding that the existence of such workplaces had been sufficiently established, whilst the existence of genuine provincial productive units had not been proven. Nevertheless, the ruling raises significant legal concerns. On the one hand, it acknowledges the mandatory and non-discretionary nature of the statutory rules governing electoral constituencies, yet ultimately upholds a collective agreement that directly affects their determination. On the other hand, it implicitly departs from numerous prior arbitral decisions which had identified provincial electoral units on the basis of specific organisational features. In doing so, the Court shifts the focus of the dispute from reviewing the lawfulness of the agreement to redefining the company’s electoral structure, thereby giving rise to arguable inconsistencies in its reasoning concerning the very concept of a workplace. The case highlights the difficulties involved in applying traditional models of collective representation to the emerging organisational realities of digital platform businesses and underscores the need for legislative intervention capable of providing greater legal certainty.