The IB3 works council claims it will fight to the bitter end: "We don't want to be civil servants, we want justice."
They claim that the blockage of the agreement prevents 350 workers from seeing their legitimate expectations for job and salary improvements met.
PalmThe IB3 works council has stated that it will fight to the bitter end for their rights and to resolve the conflict arising from the internalization of workers. Their news services were subcontracted for 18 years, suffering "all kinds of abuses," such as "minimal" wages, unpaid overtime, legal and illegal redundancy plans (EREs), and job instability "incompatible with the essential news service." In their opinion, they did so not "so much out of conviction" but because of the "certainty" that they would end up losing the pending lawsuits for illegal transfer of workers. Continuing with the account of the events, the committee explained that at that time there were 160 complaints from workers from different subcontracts about integrating workers as non-permanent, permanent staff. However, a Supreme Court ruling determined that any employee with a permanent contract before an internalization process must be permanent when the service is subcontracted.
February 2023
Thus, in February 2023, the workers were transferred to IB3 as permanent employees of the entity, in accordance with Article 44 of the Workers' Statute. As a result, they indicated, the positions can no longer be put out to tender. "We are workers in the instrumental public sector and we demand that the labor regulations for this group be applied to us. Exactly as has happened with other worker internalization processes in public companies in the Balearic Islands, such as non-urgent medical transport," they claim.
As they explained, once internalized, a new works council was elected and negotiations began on the integration agreement, following the new roadmap outlined by the Government. After the change of government and after another year of negotiations, an integration agreement was signed in December 2024.
The conflict arose from the rejection of this agreement by the General Directorate of Civil Service of the Government, according to criticism, despite having been aware of the negotiation "at all times."
Blockage of the agreement
"Now the blockage of the agreement prevents 350 workers from seeing their legitimate expectations for improved working conditions and wages vanish after two and a half years of waiting," they lamented, adding that the feeling of "injustice and contempt" has led to the strike being followed massively.
The works council has maintained that it tried to negotiate until the last moment with "the hope that the bulk of the agreement could be saved" but that they were not given "the slightest indication that this was possible."
"Let no one be mistaken. Our struggle is not political. In all these years, we have protested against left-wing and right-wing governments, to defend workers' rights and dignify our work," they insisted.
