The municipal party Unidos por Yaiza (UPY), through its spokesperson, Daniel Medina, has responded to the criticisms launched by Coalición Canaria (CC) and the Partido Popular (PP) regarding the "alleged responsibility" of the City Council in the return of funds earmarked for the Programs of Training in Alternation with Employment (PFAE). Medina recalls that "back in August we issued an informative note explaining publicly that the significant changes in labor regulations, in force since January 1, prevented the hiring of teachers and administrative staff during the eleven months of duration of the three training projects presented by Yaiza. It is a situation that affects all the Canary Island municipalities and that was transferred to the Canarian Employment Service."
The spokesperson adds that "the curious thing is that CC and PP are the same parties that govern the Canary Islands, and it is precisely the autonomous government that has not provided a viable and certain alternative, not only to Yaiza, but to all the municipalities that have had to return the PFAE money. The courses last eleven months and the legislation only allows hiring teachers and administrative staff for six.”
Medina also reproaches the opposition for their statements that "are a copy and paste from a tandem installed in disinformation and half-truths."
Last year, Yaiza executed three PFAEs —Home Assistance, Gardening, and Social Dynamization—, all with theoretical and practical training for eleven months. Under current regulations, the administrations that manage these programs would be forced to make permanent, fixed-term seasonal, or fixed-term contracts for specific production circumstances with a maximum of six months, modalities that are not applicable to island councils or town halls. Furthermore, there are already rulings from the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands that sanction local administrations for abuse of temporary hiring in cases linked to the PFAEs.
"This was explained by Mayor Óscar Noda last August, after the July meeting with the Canarian Employment Service, where he warned that the administrations did not have an applicable contractual figure to execute the projects," Medina concludes.