CCOO calls for indefinite strike on UK Foreign Office

CSIF, CCOO and UGT unions have called for an indefinite strike starting from Monday 14 March across all dependencies linked to the UK’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation to demand equal pay and higher salaries. In a statement, they denounced that the government “failed to respond to a just, reasonable and… legitimate demandsPersonnel of the diplomatic corps in the United Kingdom, having disclosed the ‘extremely dangerous situation in which they find themselves’ in writings of the Foreign Secretary, Jose Manuel ParisAs well as the Director-General of the diplomatic corps Hilda Jimenez.

According to unions, the 1.25% increase in Social Security payments in the UK has been added to the 5.4% increase in inflation and expected to be 7% At the end of the fiscal year (Spring 2022). In addition, according to data from the Bank of England, inflation in the UK grew at an average annual rate of 2.6%, which is equivalent to cumulative inflation of About 30% since 2008, when the latest annual update of the Working Overseas Group (PLEX) was released. On the other hand, they denounced that after Brexit, the Spanish administration “unfairly left its employees at the mercy of the British social security system”, “ignoring that it is a minimal system” which, for example, does not allow access to temporary disability.

salary difference

In this context, the CSIF, CCOO, and UGT asserted, that salary differences between workforces of the same category represent an additional aggravating circumstance and “clear evidence of management’s contempt and indifference in the face of the complex situation experienced by this group”. Thus, they deplore that nothing has been done to create readjustment mechanisms that avoid or mitigate the large imbalances that occur in terms of wages, and as a result, workers with greater seniority, paradoxically, receive lower wages than those most recently hired. All three trade unions see the situation as intolerable given that the “high cost of living is borne equally” by all public servants in the UK’s public administration, regardless of when they were established.

For all these reasons, “in the face of this tragic situation” and “by the decision of the majority of individuals who give Services in these dependencies“It was decided to call an indefinite strike, the foreign affairs of which had already been notified in advance. In the notification, which Europe Press had access to, it was stated what the workers wanted”instant equation From the salaries of all employees in the same category, regardless of their seniority.

There is also a need for “a salary increase to address the loss of purchasing power resulting from many years of freezing” and “the voluntary selection of workers to choose the public security system” Spanish or British social”, as much as possible after Brexit. The decision to strike was made at a meeting on February 24 in which 77 workers voted in favour, four voted against, and 16 abstained, according to the minutes, to which Europa Press also gained access. . UGT, CCOO and CSIF confirm that the personnel group requirements UK Public Prosecution “They are fair,” while showing “progress in the final solution to this problem.”