The Diplomat
Foreign Service workers began their “Black Mondays” yesterday by gathering in front of embassies and consulates in different countries to denounce the fact that their salaries have not been increased since 2008 and the abandonment they feel by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, from whom they demand a solution.
The trade unions CSIF, UGT and CCOO announced on Friday rallies every Monday until the 25th of July for workers, who were encouraged to wear black for the occasion, reports Europa Press.
Workers posted images on social networks of rallies in front of Spanish offices in countries such as Italy, Belgium, Australia and Morocco. In addition to wearing black, they displayed slogans such as “abandoned” or “ignored”.
In their call, the unions warned that the rallies will be “the starting signal for protests that will intensify in autumn if the administration does not agree to negotiate”.
In this sense, they demand that the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately convene the Single PLEX Committee, the interlocution body between this group and the Administration, which to date has not met despite the legal mandate.
If this request is not complied with, the unions warn that they will proceed “immediately” to file a complaint with the Labour Inspectorate “for the obstruction of the functioning of the PLEX Committee and the blocking of collective bargaining, without prejudice to the possible filing of other legal actions that may correspond”.
Workers abroad have been increasing pressure on the Foreign Ministry in particular and on the Administration in general in recent months. Workers in the UK went on strike for several weeks from mid-March, while in other countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium there have also been work stoppages and protests.
In other countries, such as Australia, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Italy, workers have also joined in the denunciations of the situation in which they work, mainly the fact that their salaries have been frozen since 2008 and their loss of purchasing power in these years due to inflation in the countries in which they work, and have warned that they could join the mobilisations.
After learning of the call for the rallies, the Foreign Office assured Europa Press that this is a priority issue for the department headed by Albares and that, within its remit, it is making “every possible effort” to ensure that the needs of this group are met. In this sense, the sources specified that “medium and long-term measures” are already being studied.
