In the Canary Islands, there are more than 25,000 public employees in "abusive temporary employment" in public administrations that depend on the Government of the Canary Islands, island councils, and city councils, a figure that does not include education and healthcare personnel, as reported by UGT this Thursday.
This data, which could rise to 60,000 workers if healthcare and education personnel are included, came out of the meeting chaired by the President of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, with representatives of public administrations and representative unions to address the application criteria of the Law on urgent measures for the reduction of temporary employment in the public sector.
The representative of UGT, Juan Bautista, pointed out that the meeting that took place last Thursday is a first step towards the "long-awaited" stabilization and added that it is important that, in addition to the unions, Fecai and Fecam are present to reach a consensus on the minimum bases that will govern this stabilization.
According to UGT, it is now being verified with the 88 municipalities which positions could be regulated and thus know the exact number within a period of a month and a half in all the public administrations of the Canary Islands. The positions in Education and Healthcare will be stabilized in a process separate from the rest, as established by the regulations themselves.
The spokesperson for Comisiones Obreras, Juan Miguel Suárez, reiterated that nearly 30,000 public employees in the Canary Islands will be able to have more legal certainty by regularizing and stabilizing their jobs, for which it is necessary that the respective public employment positions be published on time.
The representative of CSIF, Francisco Martín, indicated that the law not only obliges administrations to reduce temporary employment rates but also stabilization is a right that must be guaranteed to workers to end the economic precariousness and rights of this personnel.
30% of public personnel are in abusive temporary employment
As he detailed, there are city councils in which practically all their personnel are temporary and labor. On average, 30% of public personnel are in abusive temporary employment, a percentage that increases in Education and Healthcare, commented José Ángel Mascarell, representative of Sepca.
Specifically, in the Autonomous Community there are about 3,000 temporary people, he added, a figure that increases to 10,000 if the personnel of island councils and city councils are taken into account. However, in Education and Healthcare these numbers are much higher, although he could not offer an exact figure.
The representative of Intersindical Canaria, Pedro Medina, pointed out that he hopes that the Government of the Canary Islands will maintain the will to solve the problem that affects temporary public employees, as some of them have been in the same job for more than 25 years.
From Fecam, Tomás Pérez, argued that the city councils in the Canary Islands have "a lot of temporary employment", and it is necessary to end it, as the law dictates, which will allow giving stability to workers and public administrations, which will be able to provide a better service to citizens.
The President of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, defended the importance of establishing common mechanisms for personnel consolidation processes that must be undertaken as the law dictates. Before June 1, public employment offers have to be published, the bases by December 31, and the process has to be completed in December 2024, Torres recalled, who explained that the law establishes time frames for accessing employment through competition or competitive examination.
He highlighted the importance of this process because it affects "thousands and thousands of people" who are in the public administration, while referring to the "shared commitment" to work quickly and effectively to respond to a situation of job insecurity.
