The Diplomat
The non-statutory staff working in the Foreign Ministry’s offices in the UK are maintaining the indefinite strike that began on 14 March, despite the fact that the CSIF, CCOO and UGT unions were in favour of ending the protest, after hearing the promises made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares.
After a long assembly on Thursday, the workers decided to continue the strike, which has now been going on for more than 40 days, on the grounds that the proposal does not satisfy all the points included in their demands and that it is “not safe”.
The striking workers expressed their dissatisfaction with the communiqué issued by the trade union confederations, which welcomed the proposal put forward by the Foreign Ministry for a wage increase of between 8 and 10 per cent and called for the strike to be called off.
Upset with the attitude of the unions for publishing the statement unilaterally without consulting them, the workers of the Foreign Office in the United Kingdom explained to Europa Press that the proposal put forward by the Minister for a salary increase of 8 to 10 percent for foreign workers in eight countries, starting with the United Kingdom, and which could be extended to the rest of the countries in the next stages, is not new and is not guaranteed.
“It was already on the table before the strike, but as it was not what we were asking for, it was decided to go ahead,” said the aforementioned sources, who pointed out that the proposal does not resolve all the issues raised and, above all, “does not guarantee that it will be fixed” but that the Ministry of Finance and the Executive Committee of the Interministerial Commission on Remuneration (CECIR) have yet to give their approval.
For the time being, the 97 workers at the Spanish Embassy in London and the consulates general in the British capital, Manchester and Edinburgh are maintaining their indefinite strike, with minimum services of 25 percent, which is causing serious delays in the issuing of visas and passports.
