The Diplomat
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Spanish Congress of Deputies yesterday urged the government to “urgently” resolve the labour and professional demands that have been raised by Foreign Service staff in recent weeks and to adapt their working conditions.
This is stated in the non-legislative proposal presented by the PP and amended in agreement with Ciudadanos, which went ahead with 33 votes in favour, including those of PSOE and Podemos, and only one abstention, reports Europa Press.
Specifically, the deputies ask the Government to “articulate and coordinate between all the affected ministries the channels of dialogue already initiated and necessary with the groups of Spanish Foreign Service workers (PLEX) to urgently analyse and resolve their labour and professional demands and adapt their working conditions and salaries to the reality of the State in which they must carry out their work”.
During the defence of his proposal, PP deputy Joaquín María García said that this problem “requires an immediate solution” in light of the protests of recent weeks, particularly in the UK, to make their situation known.
“They are on a war footing,” he said, stressing that their salaries have been frozen for more than 12 years. The group is calling for a wage rise to compensate for their loss of purchasing power in recent years, given that in countries such as the UK there has been a cumulative inflation rate of 30%.
The approved text also urges the government to provide consulates with “the material and human resources necessary to be able to adequately attend to Spaniards living abroad, as well as foreigners who need to travel to Spain”.
It also proposes “designing and progressively implementing a computer plan in Spanish consulates to digitalise their services and create online consular offices, thus facilitating service and reducing the time required for administrative procedures, which would improve our image abroad”.
