These days, a significant advance has been made for the salary equalization of the social action sector with public workers that aims to resolve a chronic inequality: according to data from the Department of Social Rights and Inclusion, the social sector is currently remuneratively 37% below the average public salaries. In the presentation of the measure, President Illa announced it as a way to "take care of those who take care of us".For a long time, social entities have suffered this injustice which makes it impossible to attract and retain talent in the care sector. Interested workers either do not decide to choose these professions, which often involve strong emotional and physical burdens, or, when they are there, they end up moving to better-paid sectors. A situation that drastically reduces the connection and social recognition of these professions, so necessary for justice and social cohesion, for dependency care and, ultimately, for offering opportunities to people. The Generalitat has committed to contributing annually approximately 150 million euros, up to a total of 600 million, to reduce this labor gap in four years. It is, without a doubt, a brave and determined policy aimed at reversing a situation that hinders the quality of support for people. Never before has such a notable contribution been made. But beyond good intentions, this commitment is still just a first step that needs to refine many aspects. To begin with, the measure will not reach the entire social sector. In the case of the Pere Tarrés Foundation, for example, only 3% of the more than 200 workers under the social action agreement will benefit from this equalization.And this is because the new salary model will not automatically extend to all administrations and legal instruments involved in the complex social services system. Some of these tendered or contracted services depend on municipalities and county councils, which through the so-called program contract may see their funding increased, but then the improvements must be effectively passed on to the entities and providers that end up providing the services. Current legislation and the complexity of administrative relations will also not facilitate the universal application of the model. Sometimes services are provided through tenders governed by a public procurement law that does not allow prices to be revised even though the applicable labor agreement between the social entity providing the service and the workers' representatives requires it. A real absurdity that condemns these conditions to be maintained throughout the entire duration of the tender, and even to be extended in subsequent mandatory extensions. To this must be added that some services are provided through subsidies from the Generalitat itself, which foresee economic limits set in the calls according to already obsolete parameters that have not been modified either. And if these aids do not grow, it will be difficult to equate salaries either in the case of those activities driven by the direct initiative of the entities.Finally, the announced improvement will only affect specialized services within the Department of Social Rights, but, on the other hand, other departments of the Generalitat, such as Labor, Justice, and Equality and Feminism, which also regulate and fund projects that reach the social sector, will not benefit. For the salary equalization that is proposed to be real and complete, a joint action by the entire Government in all directions would be necessary. In summary, this non-uniform application of the measure will generate more tension in collective bargaining, which necessarily must go up, and will place the services provided by entities with such reduced margins that they will not allow payment of all expenses, or directly with losses.The legislative initiative on the instruments for the provision of social services that is expected to be approved by Parliament before the end of the year could correct some of these inefficiencies, provided it foresees the adaptation of services to real costs. It is also urgent to amend the law on contracts to review and update prices and stop strangling the entities that provide services to people. Only fair and well-funded regulation will allow for quality in social services and will, once and for all, give prestige to the people who make their vocation their profession. Only a modern policy, which takes into account the current needs of the social sector, which reduces bureaucracy and administrative inefficiencies, and which applies a transversal and multi-departmental vision, will truly respond to this praiseworthy intention expressed by the president of taking care of those who take care of us. Of all of us, leaving no one behind.

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).

Since July 2008, when the possibility of accessing age-based leave in the Catalan Parliament was created, 62 requests have been granted for this special regime that allows staff to get paid without working. According to data delivered by Parliament in the framework of the freedom of information requests made by ARA, seven were authorised during the speakership of Ernest Benach, when the special system began, and from here they have increased exponentially: fourteen were awarded under Núria de Gispert, eleven under Carme Forcadell and up to eighteen under Roger Torrent. During this 2021, with Laura Borràs as Speaker, 12 have been granted although they have been temporarily suspended, as the board decided to put an end to this system and is studying whether it can revert them. The decision comes after the ARA uncovered that Parliament allocates €1.7m per year to pay 21 officials who no longer work there.

Two former secretaries general of the Parliament of Catalonia and nineteen other officials of the chamber receive almost 100% of their salaries despite the fact that they no longer work there. This is a special regime called "age leave" that exists only for workers of Catalonia's Parliament since 2008. It is an unprecedented privilege that has no comparison in the common private market or in the administration of the Generalitat, and that until now could be requested when workers reached the age of 60 and had worked for over fifteen years in the parliamentary administration. They then receive this pay until they reach official retirement age. ARA has learnt from a freedom of information request made in April last year and recently answered, up to 21 former officials are covered by this system, with a salary totalling €1.7m per year (see graph).