Unions call the proposed salary increase for the foreign service “pittance”

The Diplomat The unions have expressed their rejection of the proposed salary increase for foreign service personnel (PLEX) and have demanded "a real structural response that puts an end to so many years of precarious employment." In a joint statement, CCOO, CSIF, and UGT denounced that the Administration presented to the Technical Commission for Foreign Service Personnel (CTPLEX) "a proposal that limits the PLEX salary increase to the general framework of the public sector, failing to adapt the increases to the reality of each country." This approach, in their view, "is not only insufficient, but also perpetuates the loss of purchasing power and the inequalities suffered by our group." The CTPLEX meeting took place at the end of March and was attended by the unions, who came "with high expectations, given the commitments made by the Administration" at a previous meeting held in December. “Unfortunately, the only noteworthy aspect has been the Civil Service's fulfillment of its commitment to convene the Commission during the first quarter of 2026,” they stated. Regarding the salary increase for 2026, the Administration presented a proposal that sets as a limit “the general percentage foreseen for the entire public sector and proposes its distribution among countries based on their socioeconomic situation.” According to the unions, this approach “represents a substantial change from the historical model applied for decades, in which two specific elements coexisted: the establishment of a general limit for all Public Administrations in Spain and a specific power that allows for adapting the remuneration of staff abroad to the economic reality of each country.” “While this possibility still exists in the regulations themselves, the Administration has decided not to use it,” the unions lamented. “Therefore, we are not facing a technical or legal problem, but rather a clear lack of political will, and under these conditions, it makes no sense to discuss how to distribute the increase,” they continued. “The problem isn’t the distribution itself, but what they intend to distribute: a pittance, limited to the percentage allocated to the public sector in 2026, applied to the PLEX payroll and distributed among the countries,” they denounced. “With that level of increase, any formula is incapable of addressing the critical reality of the PLEX,” the three labor federations warned. “In this regard, the labor organizations have made it perfectly clear that we will not accept a proposal that, in practice, consolidates the loss of purchasing power for our staff and perpetuates existing inequalities between countries,” they stated.

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