The Minister of Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, has announced that the 35-hour work week will be launched in the general administration of the State (AGE) in the first fortnight of April, a measure that has had the support of CCOO, UGT, and CSIF. This was announced this Friday during a conference of Eldiario.es, in which he recalled that there are autonomous communities where the 35-hour week is already being applied among civil servants, but that in the AGE and public bodies a resolution will be issued to implement this week in the first fortnight of April, presumably after Easter.

The Catalan Parliament has approved a long-standing demand of prison officers: to be recognized as law enforcement agents. The demand, which gained momentum after the murder of Núria, a cook at Mas de Enric prison in March 2024, by an inmate, was a proposal from the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) that passed with votes from the People's Party (PP), Vox, Catalan Alliance, and Together for Catalonia (Junts). In addition to prison officers, the status of law enforcement agent—already held by police officers, doctors, and teachers, among others—will also be extended to prison directors and rehabilitation staff: psychologists, educators, lawyers, and social workers. With Thursday's decision, Catalan prison officers become the first in Spain to achieve this status. Until a few months ago, the Catalan government had justified the measure by saying that only the Spanish government could approve it, but on the first anniversary of the crime in Mas de Enric, the Minister of Justice, Ramon Espadaler, He pledged to grant this prerogative using the powers that Catalonia has been delegated in matters of prisons.The proposal presented by the PSC, which was processed through the single reading procedure, initially limited itself to granting the status of law enforcement officers to prison guards. However, following an amendment by Junts, this status was extended to treatment officers as well. This occurred despite opposition from the Comuns, ERC, and CUP parties, who unsuccessfully attempted to block the proposal. Attempts by Vox and the PP to extend this status to other prison staff were also unsuccessful. Thus, the law approved this Thursday applies only to officers, both security and treatment, who work inside the prison, as confirmed by sources within the Department of Justice. However, prison sources criticize the law for not including among the new law enforcement officers those who work in the prison, such as cooks, sports instructors, or art workshop leaders, nor those employed by the Center for Initiatives for Reintegration (CIRE) who teach various trades to inmates.

The Government has approved the Catalan public employment billwhich will replace the regulations in force since 1997. Having passed the first quarter of the 21st century, and given the content of the document, it is clear that public employment will remain under a model designed in the last millennium. The Government feels comfortable maintaining a status quo which he believes is immutable and refuses to reflect deeply on what the country needs in this chapter.

The legal framework governing the working conditions of civil servants in Catalonia is over 25 years old, and the Catalan government believes it is time to update it. The executive council will approve the draft public employment law next Tuesday. Its aim is to redefine access to the public sector, encourage young people to pursue careers in public administration to address generational change, and reform career advancement opportunities within the civil service. The law, which will subsequently enter parliamentary proceedings, affects nearly 400,000 workers: employees of the Catalan government, the 947 municipalities in Catalonia, and the seven Catalan public universities. According to the Presidency department, the legislation has been developed with "maximum consensus" and falls within the framework of... major administrative reform project that the Catalan executive has underway.

Amid the crossfire between the Ministry of Labor and the Spanish employers' association CEOE over the blocking of the social dialogue table for improving workplace safety, Pedro Sánchez chose to preside over the signing of an agreement between the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration and two of the largest civil servants' unions, UGT and CSIF, to raise salaries by more than 2% by 2028 (inclusive). "These are the agreements that legitimize government action," Sánchez argued this Thursday during the closing ceremony. He also stated that steps like this are what "guarantee stability and the ability to look to the long term." Finally, CCOO did not join the agreement. The truth is that Sánchez found in this Thursday's event with union representatives the only lifeline with which to boast about his government's management, but above all, its stability. His remarks came shortly after Congress rejected the deficit and debt targets, a necessary step before drafting the state budget, with Junts, PP, and Vox voting against them. They also coincided with the Supreme Court's decision to send former Socialist minister José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García to prison. because of the corruption case that has cornered the executive and, in particular, the PSOE.

The Spanish government makes a move in negotiations to raise public sector wages and proposes a salary increase. of 10% for the period 2025 - 2028According to statements made to the media by the UGT union this Wednesday, the Ministry of Public Administration and the main civil servants' unions met again this Wednesday to negotiate an increase in public sector salaries, and they intend to meet again on Thursday. However, the proposal from the ministry, headed by Óscar López (PSOE), has not convinced the unions due to its fine print. Specifically, the Ministry of Public Administration is proposing a cumulative increase of 10%, but between 2025 (when the increase should be retroactive, according to the unions) and 2026, it cannot exceed 4%. Thus, salaries would rise by 2% this year and another 2% next year. The remaining salary increase would be applied gradually starting in 2027. "For UGT, this percentage complicates the negotiations because purchasing power must be guaranteed," said Isabel Araque, general secretary of UGT Public Services, in statements to the media. Regarding the protests, Araque declined to say whether or not they would resume "out of good faith" and indicated that the union would wait to see what the Civil Service puts on the table at tomorrow's meeting. However, he reiterated that the unions "never" ruled out any scenario for protests. Meanwhile, CCOO considers the Spanish government's proposal "completely unacceptable" and states that it is an "insult" to public employees. The union asserted that it will only accept a salary proposal that guarantees the recovery of purchasing power and threatened to resume calling for a general strike in December "if there is no fair economic proposal." For its part, the CSIF union believes that this initial offer from the government "would not cover" the rise in prices, since year-on-year inflation was 3.1% up to October of this year. "The first two years of the agreement would mean a loss of purchasing power for public employees, and therefore we cannot accept it," insists CSIF, adding that, out of a sense of responsibility, they will continue negotiating with the Spanish government. "It must be taken into account that since 2022, the date of the last agreement, salaries have devalued by 8%, and since 2010, when the salary reduction occurred, with this year's cuts, the loss amounts to almost 20%," argues Miguel Borra from the union, "there is a spending cap, and therefore there is room to increase the offer." Although the Spanish government does not yet have a draft of the 2026 national budget on the table, for public sector workers this cannot be an impediment to agreeing on a new salary increase. Civil servants have been pressing for days and even They all threatened to call a general strikeAs CCOO had already pointed out, part of the discontent stemmed from the ministry's dismissal of the possibility of increasing public sector salaries in 2025, citing the lack of a state budget. The current agreement was implemented in 2022 and expired in December 2024. Since then, salaries have been frozen.

The Spanish government does not yet have a draft national budget for 2026. However, for public sector workers, this cannot be an obstacle to agreeing on a new salary increase for 2025. Normally, these salary increases are included in new public accounts. Civil servants have been pressuring Pedro Sánchez's government for days to take action – the main unions representing civil servants (CCOO, UGT, and CSIF) They have threatened a general strike This December—. For now, they have managed to get negotiations to resume this Wednesday with the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration, under the leadership of Óscar López (PSOE).

The Barnahus, the comprehensive services that the Generalitat (Catalan Government) launched for minor victims of sexual violence, are severely understaffed. Of the twenty-six professionals working in the fourteen homes across Catalonia, only six remain in their positions, while the remaining positions are either vacant or the new staff has not yet been trained. This situation is causing delays in child care and an overload of work for the professionals who remain.

The Spanish government has approved a new public sector job opening. Specifically, up to 36,588 public sector positions will be available in the state administration in 2025, as announced by the Minister of Digital Transformation and Civil Service, Óscar López, on Tuesday. This is a slightly lower number of positions than the 2024 opening.that was historic With the offer of 40,146 positions, the aim is to strengthen, above all, citizen services that depend on the general state administration, such as the State Public Employment Service (SEPE), Social Security, and immigration offices.

While we were trying to breathe in the heat that kept us awake, the smoke from the fires, and the Spanish political turmoil, which has now reached the level of saunas and brothels, a piece of good news slipped through the narrow bars of news that make headlines: the administrative reform promoted by the Government will soon go to Parliament.

There are always those who don't flinch and raise their voice in the face of injustice or abuse, without prior cost-benefit calculations. The person of a piece of clothing who simply does the right thing. However, in most humans, the faint-hearted coexists with the potential hero. Who hasn't alternated episodes of cowardice or passivity with bursts of intrepidity or daring? We can blame it on character, upbringing, or the moment in life. Or, in part, we can turn to context. Social psychology speaks of a bystander effect Because when many people witness an attack, the victim is less likely to receive help. Contrary to expectations, the group doesn't have a multiplying effect but rather a diffusing effect on individual responsibility. One for another, the house must be swept. The dramatic case of Kitty Genovese—a New York teenager who was murdered in the street, in front of thirty-seven witnesses, without anyone intervening—illustrates this phenomenon very well.

There is a public administration that is little known to many citizens, but vital to the daily lives of the regions, where filling vacant jobs is becoming a true odyssey. Civil servants are leaving, lured by significantly better salaries in other institutions, even if they are miles away from where they live. We are talking about the regional councils, a tool for territorial rebalancing that reports to the Generalitat (Catalan government) and is responsible for tasks such as water purification, social services, school cafeterias, and school transportation in many medium-sized and small towns.

The owner of the world made a speech in which he addressed his "best friend" (read it together, "best friend", with the meaning of when you are a minor), Elon Musk, and praised him for his cuts in public spending, which - we read it in the ARA - "has been the ace."

The Generalitat has presented this Thursday a plan to the unions to convert the bulk of temporary civil servants in the Catalan administration into permanent staff. With this plan to reduce temporality, the Government wants to comply with state regulations that require temporal staff to make up under 8% of workers

The announcement of the brand new Minister of Public Function, María Jesús Montero, that public sector workers who have been on temporary contracts for over ten years ten years would be given a permanent post without having to take an exam has created doubts on its constitutionality. The measure, which was negotiated with ERC, has surprised Pepe Álvarez, secretary general of Union UGT, who has questioned whether the proposal is in line with the Constitution.

The Spanish government is preparing a major legal change to put an end to the high rate of temporary employment in the public sector. The Minister of Territorial Policy and Public Function, Miquel Iceta, announced on Thursday that the executive will reform the Basic Statute of the Public Employee (EBEP) to force all public administrations - including town and city councils - to fill positions that are currently occupied by temporary workers with permanent staff within a maximum period of three years. Staff with temporary contracts working directly for the State is around 8%, while it soars to 30% in the case of regional administrations. In the Generalitat, it reaches 32%. With the reform, the central government wants temporality to be kept under 8% in all public administrations.