The strike that the workers of the Insular Hospital had planned has been suspended, at least, until next January 29. This was decided by the Company Committee after the meeting of more than 3 hours that it held this Monday with the councilors of Finance and Health of the Cabildo and the management and the Human Resources area of the hospital. In that meeting, it was decided that three members of the Company Committee and representatives of the Cabildo will meet at a working table to try to "solve" the different demands of the workers.
The main claims are the equalization of salaries with those of the staff of the Canarian Health Service, trying to offer places so that the temporary workers of the Insular Hospital can have a permanent position and the payment of additional payments. Blanca Torres, union representative of CC.OO. and member of the Company Committee, has indicated that this same Tuesday they will withdraw the strike notice. On January 29 there will be a new meeting and depending on "what has been done until that moment", the workers will then decide whether or not to go on strike. Torres has pointed out that the strike, in any case, will not be total. If there is one, the strike would be like the one that was proposed on this occasion, three daily stoppages of 20 minutes each. "The idea is to stop those times, which are the staff's breaks, and make those stops; that it does not affect the elderly but that we do express that we do not agree with how they are treating us," he explained.
Thus, in the coming weeks at the working table will be "seeing how to get the places, how many staff could have the place for consolidation of employment and refine a little all these rough edges to achieve the agreement we have signed with the Cabildo since May", says Torres. And this doctor emphasizes that the Cabildo had already agreed to a good part of their demands, "pay us the additional payments, that we all collect the professional career and agree on some objectives", through an agreement in the Governing Council and with some aspects already approved in Plenary during this new legislature. "Even an extension of the budget for additional payments was approved," he recalls.
"Advances" in some aspects
However, later a negative report indicated that the General State Budget Law prevents salary increases to public employees and the Minister of Finance has based on that document to argue that he cannot pay them, since he cannot "prevaricate". "It seems much more logical to me that it is delivered before taking it to Plenary than afterwards," says Torres about that report. "We were convinced that everything was resolved and in November we found that as there is a negative report we are not going to be paid that money and nothing can be done. We were a little frozen. In addition, we see that the interim positions do not come out, that there is no movement in that sense. We are worried," he says.
However, after the meeting this Monday, this union representative does believe that "in some things they are advancing". For example, the representatives of the Cabildo gave the Company Committee the objectives of 2016 so that "we can contemplate and negotiate them" and "thus in 2017 collect them".
Regarding the legal obstacle to pay them the salary increases, Torres points out that the law says that "the wage bill cannot be modified, except for extraordinary circumstances", which are that "the content of the work changes, that there are more staff, which is impossible because those laws do not allow hiring staff either, and third, by objectives". "Regarding the content of the work, the workers consider that there has been a lot of change there," says this union representative, emphasizing that for example "almost 20 years ago the residents' patients walked and were mentally capable and now they are all in bed, with total dependence".
In this way, he considers that "there is an exceptionality". "The content of work has increased, the sick leaves are not being replaced equally, quite a few retirements have been amortized and people have not been hired to replace them," he says, while pointing out that "in addition, we must think about an integration process, in which the more equal we are to the SCS, the easier things will be".
Blanca Torres emphasizes, however, that the Minister of Finance, Luis Arráez, has conveyed to them that he has "good will" and "says that we are going to see if some kind of arbitration can be reached, see how a consensus can be reached and obviate that negative report without harming legality; and without going to court, of course".