Justice and the colleagues of the murdered cook will review security in centers two years later

BarcelonaPrison reintegration workers' unions have called off Union sources have stated in declarations to ARA that this commission formalizes for the first time this joint task to review the safety of CIRE staff, the public company that employs inmates within prisons and also hires the trainers who teach trades to inmates and who work with them in cafeteries and canteens.

Next week, a negotiating commission will also be established to address a new agreement. According to union sources, it has been necessary to renew this agreement to apply salary improvements, which will be "comparable" to those received by prison officials in 2024 after the crime at Mas d'Enric prison. Although the exact amount for CIRE staff has not been specified, the increases two years ago were 2.5% to the general salary and 13% to the specific complement, amounting to an average of 200 euros more. The commitment of the department and worker representatives is that the negotiation of the new agreement will conclude by September 30 at the latest, and that the salary increase will have retroactive effects from January 1 "provided it is signed in the current year".

For its part, the Department of Justice has welcomed the cancellation of the strike and stated that the commitments they have agreed upon "allow for the opening of a new stage of negotiation to continue improving the working and safety conditions of CIRE professionals, as well as addressing the negotiation of a new collective agreement".

Without being authority figures

The trade unions representing CIRE workers had long been denouncing that they had been left out of the salary and safety improvements achieved by prison surveillance officials after the murder of the cook Núria López, who worked for CIRE at Mas d'Enric. But what finally triggered the strike call was that Parliament granted the status of agents of authority to all prison workers except those from CIRE.

This is now being resolved by appealing to the reform of the prison law at the state level, "which will recognize the principle of indemnity" for the labor staff working in prison centers, as is the case for CIRE workers. This implies, according to union sources, that they will not achieve the status of agent of authority but will have more legal protection, such as the guarantee that the administration will be subsidiarily responsible for compensation for possible injuries at the workplace.