The negotiation has been less beneficial for the officials than they expected. They have only obtained 59 euros as a transitional supplement, when they were claiming 182 euros to match what the rest of the workers in the autonomous community and the State receive. The total supplement amounts to 472 euros, of which the justice officials already received 208, almost 50 percent less, which led them to declare an indefinite strike on April 3.
Now, discontent prevails in the face of an agreement that they consider insufficient. For Lourdes Vidal, a Processing official at the Arrecife Courts, "there is general discontent but we had to reach this agreement because it was a waste of money and working time for everyone." The negotiation has not been easy, "the Government of the Canary Islands has been very tough," explained the official.
In the pre-agreement, the parties have agreed on the amount of 100 euros per month more to encourage greater performance in officials. It is expected that they will improve in the quality of public service and the speed in responding to citizens. This remuneration for productivity will begin to be collected this year, although the 59 euros corresponding to the transitional supplement will be received by officials from 2007.
The strike committee and the autonomous Government have also agreed that the fixed hours that officials must comply with is 37 and a half hours a week, which require each one to be at their job between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., from Monday to Friday. Before or after this schedule, officials can flexibly recover the remaining hours until reaching 37 and a half.
The pre-agreement makes it clear that during the next month, both parties will meet again to negotiate to discuss other points included in the strike notice that the unions presented last February.
