The Cartographic and Geological Institute of Catalonia has been denounced for alleged unfair salary increases.

BarcelonaThe CGT union has filed three lawsuitsagainst the Cartographic and Geological Institute of Catalonia for alleged salary increases—in the form of professional category changes—made by hand and without following an internal promotion system agreed upon with the works council. According to ARA, two of these complaints have already been admitted for processing and are pending resolution by the contentious-administrative division of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC). "Salary categories are recognized by hand without following public criteria. Management decides this for whatever reasons, and we understand that this often corresponds to favoritism within the company," the CGT alleges.

The prosecution cites as an example the case of a civil servant who was promoted five levels, from A9 (a unit head with a base salary of €37,433.32, according to the Institute's own collective bargaining agreement agreed upon in 2015) to A65. Among other things, the union also points out the change in professional category from a C4 level technician to a B2 specialist technician "without any job analysis to justify these changes." In its complaint, it criticizes "the progression of people from lower to higher groups, skipping different levels of experience" and considers that "it is inconsistent with the fact that, at the same time, it is so difficult to achieve promotions based on proven experience for advancement within groups without leadership." Furthermore, it questions the existence of single-person units and does not consider "the availability and special workday bonuses" paid to some workers to be justified.

In the last six years, the works council chaired by the CGT has detected 15 changes in the institution's organizational chart. "It is a fundamental problem. They act like a private company when they are a public company," the union insists. The Cartographic Institute of Catalonia was created in 1982, and in 2014 it merged with the Geological Institute of Catalonia, giving rise to a new joint organization. It currently reports to the Department of Territory, Housing, and Ecological Transition, headed by Minister Sílvia Paneque. Its headquarters are located in a former pavilion from the 1929 World's Fair on Montjuïc Mountain, next to the Archaeological Museum.

Response from the Institute

Asked about the lawsuits filed by the CGT, sources from the Cartographic Institute recall that the courts already ruled in their favor in a first appeal filed by the union at the beginning of 2024. They also indicate that, since it is a public company, and not an institution, they have always been governed by private labor law and, therefore, they must strictly comply. In this sense, they argue that the judicial process should have been initiated through social channels - because it is a labor issue - rather than through administrative litigation. On the contrary, the prosecution considers that, when it comes to their "administrative powers", public business entities should be subject to public law and not private law.

The Institute acknowledges that until now the company did not have a job evaluation that, for example, establishes a career path proposal for the organization's staff, but explains that this is being negotiated with workers' representatives and they hope it can be ready in Summer. Thus, they maintain that the changes to the organizational chart are part of normal business operations, that many of them have been caused by the first major wave of retirements since the organization's creation, and that the works council has been duly informed: "Category changes are not made because they are considered improper; if they are, it is because." They also emphasize that they have received demands from the union, but no worker has filed a complaint about their personal situation through legal channels. They are confident that the High Court of Justice of Catalonia will rule in their favor.