Andorra Union Warns Origin Hiring Risks Abuses and Local Job Losses

**USdA warns that origin-country hiring could lead to worker abuses and job displacement**

The Unió Sindical d'Andorra (USdA) has raised serious concerns over the planned origin-country hiring system, cautioning that it risks repeating past labour abuses while potentially displacing resident workers. USdA general secretary Gabriel Ubach highlighted these issues in comments to Altaveu, describing the initiative as a major shift for Andorra's job market.

The system, backed by the government and the Confederació Empresarial Andorrana (CEA), targets workers from South American countries—starting with Colombia—for contracts of up to nine months, including guaranteed accommodation and travel. Ubach warned of two key dangers: inadequate living and working conditions, and the replacement of existing employees.

He pointed to recent precedents involving Peruvian and Argentine workers, where abuses prompted the government to impose strict limits on permits for foreign company staff. Without robust oversight, Ubach said, similar problems could recur. "Who will ensure these people are housed and paid as agreed?" he asked, noting the Labour Inspectorate's limited resources and inability to even monitor overtime effectively.

Ubach expressed opposition to the scheme, arguing it lacks any viable control mechanism. He envisioned workers crammed into substandard "pastera" flats and shortchanged on wages. He also flagged the threat to locals, claiming some employers already plan to use temporary hires to cut costs during off-seasons, avoiding year-round salaries.

The union leader criticised the approach as favouring a small elite at the expense of broader society, predicting an influx of transient workers uninterested in social protections, language laws or quality public services. "Instead of families, we'll have mercenaries chasing maximum earnings to send home," he said.

Meanwhile, Argentinos en Andorra has presented the government, Chamber of Commerce and Hoteliers' Union with a technical dossier outlining non-negotiables for the nine-month agreement. The association demands safeguards for dignified housing, warning that unregulated coliving could enable mass overcrowding in extreme-precarity spaces.

It calls for mandatory on-site audits by the Social Affairs ministry and the Citizen's Ombudsman, minimum square-metre standards per person, and a ban on unfettered models where housing becomes a company sideline. "Housing is a basic right the state must protect," the group stated.

Other demands include direct, free validation of Argentine professional titles to end "economic tolls" via indirect routes like Spain or University of Andorra fees—deemed an ethical lapse. To streamline hiring, it proposes replacing the near-inaccessible "certificación de servicios" (unfeasible for 87% of Argentines) with notarised ANSES work histories apostilled under the Hague Convention.

For the extended stays, the association seeks double-counted seniority toward permanent residency, plus resident perks like free transport, cultural rates and non-abusive bank contracts. It issued an ultimatum: address housing gaps and arbitrary dismissal arbitration, or it will withdraw support and alert bodies including Amnesty International, the EU and UN to any worker vulnerabilities.