The San Bartolomé City Council will take to the plenary session this Thursday an out-of-court agreement with which it intends to comply with a ruling of the Social Court number 1 of Arrecife, by which it has been condemned to apply a salary increase to the Consistory's labor personnel that was agreed in 2017 and was not executed.
Specifically, as explained by the Councilor for Economy and Finance, Antonio Rocío, the City Council must execute an agreement that was reached at the negotiating table with the unions three years ago, by which an equalization of the framing supplement was established between labor and civil servant personnel, which meant "a small salary increase" for the former and which, as he detailed, was not executed because it had "a negative report from the Intervention".
"The Budget Law established a limit on salary increases for public administrations. So, when we went to apply that agreement, which we obviously had to ratify in plenary, we had a negative report from the Intervention that said that the salary increase could not be made, because the Budget Law prevented it," the councilor pointed out.
After that, Antonio Rocío states that the City Council secretary also issued a report finding "a loophole" that did allow the salary increase and that set "a precedent at the national level". "He was saying that since the budget was extended, there was no limitation on salary increases and many concepts", explained the councilor who, however, affirms that despite this report, they could not comply with the agreement either "because the comptroller demanded it".
However, based on that report from the secretary, the Union of Public Employees of the Canary Islands filed a collective dispute claim in court. "And now, in a recent ruling, the theses of the City Council secretary are validated, that effectively when a national budget is extended, there is no prohibition, limits on salary increases and that, based on that, that agreement is valid and therefore must be applied and executed," Rocío indicated.
Pay the debt within six years
Thus, the City Council must face the amounts owed to the workers since that agreement was adopted and which, according to Rocío, amounts to a total of "about 400,000 euros per year". However, for this, it also faces a problem. "Because there are also unfair laws such as the rule of spending and stability, which also prevent us from paying this all at once because we would violate that law," explained the councilor.
Therefore, the Councilor for Economy and Finance explains that, at the general negotiating table held on March 4, an agreement was reached with the unions to pay the debt within six years, which will be taken to an extraordinary and urgent plenary session this Thursday for its subsequent judicial approval.
"The administration is not to blame for the fact that we could not execute that agreement that we all made at the time," said Antonio Rocío, who believes that the ruling issued by the Social Court number 1 of Arrecife is "pioneering" in Spain.
