The PP and Vox filed a complaint against the government of Castile-La Mancha for the existing salary differences between social workers primary care entrusted to local entities and those belonging to the Council, while the socialists defended the autonomous executive by affirming that it is the municipalities themselves which establish contractual and salary relations with their workers.
It is in these terms that the debate that took place this Thursday in the plenary session of the Cortes Autonomes developed, which began with the intervention of the Luis Juan Blázquez, deputy of Voxwho stressed that Commission and municipal workers can have salary differences of “up to a thousand euros per month” despite the fact that “they carry out the same work, in the same service, with the same professional category and practice the same profession. same functions” and responsibilities.
Blázquez assured that for Vox, it is “an injustice” and therefore “we must change”, warning that this situation of “job insecurity” “has lasted for more than 15 years”.
“Since 2010, the salary has not been modified despite the fact that the Public Labor Law of Castile-La Mancha requires that there be no type of distinction between Council recruitment and local entities. However, a large proportion of professionals receive salaries close to the minimum wage,” he lamented, wondering “why the Socialist Party maintains this situation of precariousness for social workers.”
The Vox resolution, which called for the dismantling of the autonomous system and an end to administrative duplication, as well as a reduction in the number of ministries, ministries, deputies and parliaments and urged the regional government to increase public spending in social services and infrastructure, was rejected after only gaining the support of its own parliamentarians.
An understandable statement
While, the “popular” parliamentarian JosĂ© Antonio MartĂn-Buro He assured that the equalization of salaries for front-line social services is “easily understandable”, even if the region, according to him, “has already given up for decades” to provide this service “with a minimum of quality”.
MartĂn-Buro estimated the loss of municipal social workers between 2009 and 2023 at “nearly 1,400 euros per year”, indicating that “they earn almost 5% less than 15 years ago” while the CPI increased by 35.8% during this period. the region.
Faced with a current model which for the PP is “pure survival”, the deputy requested the creation of a master plan for social services “of the highest quality” and which allows “a real modernization of the system”, by consolidating the primary care social teams through a new “territorial and functional” structure.
The resolution of the “popular”, which was rejected by the absolute socialist majority despite obtaining the support of Vox, demanded that the regional government modify the salary amounts included in the supracommunal agreement, guaranteeing the desire for real equality professionals and professionals. recognition of the people assigned to these supra-communal agreements and definitively committing to a model of front-line social services which faces a new territorial and functional structure.
This Thursday, some social workers filed their complaints in front of the same building as the regional court.
The professionals, throwing down their weapons
On your side, the socialist deputy Pablo Camacho warned the group of social workers that the PP’s “reasonable and fair demands” do not have “quite the same importance”, saying they only want to use them “as a weapon against the government of Castile-La Mancha “.
“Among other things, because those who are in opposition today are the same ones who carried out layoffs and staff reductions. Without going any further, Mr. MartĂn-Buro, who was head of department at the Social Protection Delegation of the province of Cuenca and who actively contributed to the reduction in the number of social services, has today established himself as a defender of the working conditions of professionals. That is to say, today he comes to defend the same people he fired ten years ago. “What nonsense,” he remarked.
Regardless, Camacho recalled that this service is a regional competence but that it is provided in collaboration with town halls, explaining that when signing agreements, local entities are responsible for establishing the contractual forms that ‘they deem appropriate “and, therefore, the professionals are hired by the municipality in question”, which generates “a great plurality and difference in salary conditions” since each municipality “has its own collective agreements and framework agreements which regulate the working conditions and remuneration of staff.
The resolution of the socialists, the only one approved with their vote in favor but with the rejection of the PP and Vox, asked to continue the regional government’s investment effort in front-line social services, to continue extending all resources and all services throughout the country. region and continue the strategy of generating jobs linked to social well-being, in addition to continuing the path of reducing the wage gap and continuing to promote the financial stability of local entities.
Advanced path
The debate is closed the Minister of Social Protection, Bárbara GarcĂa Torijanowho said that for the regional government, frontline social services and their professionals constitute an “essential part” of the system and admits that there are problems that “can be significantly improved”, although he claimed that “it is very real that four years – of cuts – are not recovered in one or two legislatures” and that it is “a responsibility shared between administrations”.
“We are all aware that everything is not easy, that restoring a system is not as easy as we would like, but that does not prevent us from continuing to work, to continue on the path of communication, of work in common and, above all, progress and not the regression in which we saw ourselves in the past,” he continued.
At this point, the advisor filed a complaint against the PP, telling the “popular” that the system now has 868 professionals, “272 more than when you were in charge”.
“During these two legislatures, we had to do work that I would have liked to never be necessary, that of recovering the models, adapting them to the new needs of citizens,” he commented, emphasizing that “ some aspects have been improved. “” agreements with town halls, which constitute, he recalled, “an important part” and whose responsibility “is also to support social service professionals”.
Bárbara GarcĂa Torijano highlighted that in addition, maintenance and mileage have also been increased and improved, as well as some service prices, advances of which she is aware that “they are not yet sufficient”, but to which she has added “progress” agreed in 2024 such as the 3% increase in professionals’ salaries “with the objective, in addition, of increasing it on this path with these same percentages” to “gradually reduce” the gap.
