The bulk of the Canary Islands union mass has called a general strike in the public sector, especially linked to the sectors of Administration, health and education, for next Friday, December 18, which will affect about 60,000 employees of institutions and official bodies belonging to the Autonomous Community, due to the budget cut planned for 2010.
According to the unions, the reasons for this strike call must be found in the "cut in essential services" that emanates from the programmed decrease in the General Budget Law of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands for 2010, which is currently going through its parliamentary process and whose final debate will begin on December 16.
This was announced by Intersindical Canaria at a press conference held this morning in the capital of Gran Canaria, in which they demanded that the regional Executive withdraw the current draft Budget, "which includes a brutal reduction in the items allocated to social services", as explained by Bernardo Díaz, spokesman for Intersindical. If this is not the case, the centrals announce the start of a calendar of mobilizations that could lead to a general strike of all economic sectors of the islands in the first half of 2010.
The organizers were very satisfied because "we have all the centrals together in this call", and therefore, "we are sure that on the 18th we will have the support of all the workers and the strike will be a success". Díaz stressed that "there is so much tension on the street" that this Government "has managed to get us all to agree".
The unions insisted that the cuts announced by the Government are motivated "by the interest of diverting these funds to benefit their four friends", to achieve "a progressive decapitalization and privatization of essential services", said Fernando Pellicer, spokesman for the Union of Education Workers. "We are witnessing," he said, "a fierce, unprecedented offensive against public services and their workers," which "we do not accept."
In this sense, the figures made public by the regional Executive in the Canary Islands Parliament on the cost of sick leave in Education, "denote a total absence of inspection", said Pellicer and "a resounding management failure on the part of the Administration", said Díaz. The Minister of Economy and Finance informed the Canary Islands Chamber that sick leave in Education costs 228 million euros in four years to the public coffers. Faced with these data and far from being self-critical, the unions calling the strike on December 18, insist on asking the regional Administration to "investigate and inspect".
"How many files have been opened in these years, if the situation is really as it is said?" asked Bernardo Medina, who also defended the professionalism of the doctors of the Canary Islands, "who are not signing fraudulent sick leave". There are occupational risk prevention protocols that the Administration "does not comply with", he said, and this "causes colleagues to perform their duties in difficult situations that affect their health".
ACN
