- The Minister of Public Governance and Self-Government insisted that all these agreements came to improve the working conditions of public employees.
- As an example, he cited the agreement for school assistants to reduce the work calendar to 120 hours; flexible hours in the case of having daughters or sons under 14 years of age; the standardization of salaries in the Administration of Justice; and the agreement for job offers in the field of cleaning in educational centers
The Minister of Public Governance and Self-Government indicated that the willingness of the Basque Government to negotiate with the various available forums and social dialogue tables is full. Olatz Garamendi rejected the criticism received in the sense that this dialogue did not take place nor the agreements reached and put a piece of information on the table: in the last ten years, during the mandate of Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu, more than 100 specific agreements in different sectors.
In response in the Basque Parliament to a question from the parliamentarian of Ciudadanos, Garamendi pointed out that “whether partial or not, all agreements have come to improve the working conditions of public employees.” In this sense, he points out that areas of development are taking place hand in hand with these agreements closed with the different unions of Euskadi and mentions some examples: the recent agreement for assistants in schools, reducing the work calendar to 120 hours, and adapting to its unique reality; flexible hours in the case of having daughters or sons under 14 years of age; the standardization of salaries in the Administration of Justice, and the agreement for job offers in the field of cleaning in educational centers.
Likewise, he emphasized that in this legislature the OPEs of more than 15,000 positions have been approved in all sectors of the Basque Administration, adding to the calls for the consolidation of work in all sectors with 17,000 positions that will allow for an interim period to be created. decreased below 8%.
The advisor rejects some of the arguments presented by the unions to justify the conflict in the public sphere and emphasizes that contrary to what people want to believe, there have been improvements in the salaries of the Administration, the quality of work progress, and the Administration. The workforce is growing and the commitment to equality continues to be emphasized over time.
After pointing out that the strike is an instrument in extreme situations or situations of significant severity, Garamendi rejected that we are in a situation of that kind and closed his intervention with a message of peace in the Basque society. “We must know the quality of our public service and the good work of public servants,” he concluded.
