I will not, in any way, criticize the work of public employees. I have never questioned the professionalism, effort, and dedication of the municipal staff, neither as a citizen, nor as a user of the Administration's services, nor now, when I coordinate the Department of Internal Affairs and Human Resources of the Arrecife City Council,
You will not find me in the easy criticism against unions either. On the contrary, I believe that labor protection and the conquest of rights since the beginning of the Transition to our days are a fundamental part of the progress of our country.
And I think that public personnel should be trained and have tools available for recycling knowledge and skills, which contribute to greater effectiveness and efficiency of the Administration, a machinery at the service of citizens.
Having said that, I find the manipulation that has been attempted these days of the decision of the PSOE group of Arrecife to condition the reduction of two and a half hours of work per week to the elaboration of a Training Plan intolerable.
Our rejection to reduce the working day without prior planning and without a body that facilitates, regulates and supervises the training of Personnel left us alone in the General Negotiation Table: it is easier to pass the buck but also more irresponsible. And it has brought us criticism (not so much generalized or shared as noisy and widely disseminated) and even posters with photos downloaded without permission from social networks.
But the pressure will not make us move one iota from our position, in a scenario in which the crisis has increased the demand for services and the Law on Rationalization and Sustainability of Local Administration, which prohibits the hiring of new personnel, acts as a further obstacle to quality public management.
Citizens would not understand a reduction in the hours of municipal employees without a current Training Plan, when they wait more than is reasonable to carry out a procedure, pay a fee or receive the payment of a subsidy or aid.
Formed staff? Of course. Recycling and updating of knowledge in a constantly changing regulatory framework and with the possibilities of electronic management that are opened thanks to new technologies? Naturally. But always, with control of times and subjects (that is, with the design of a Training Plan) and without in any way putting at risk the attention to the public and the dedication that our city of Arrecife demands and deserves.
Jimena Álvarez, Councilor for Internal Affairs, Human Resources and New Technologies of the Arrecife City Council