Stressing the role of Spanish trade unions to bolster democracy and expressing strong support for workers’ and trade union rights, the Spanish Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz of the current EU Presidency got a standing ovation following her address to the ETUC Executive Committee.
The recent elections in several European countries that resulted in gains for extreme-right parties and even brought them into government were discussed at the constituency of the Mediterranean unions.
The FSC-CCOO and FeSP-UGT public service federations have criticised the government for failing to address major problems of recruitment and promotion in the state administration. They say that around 43000 jobs – nearly 20% of the total – have been cut over the last 10 years and the situation now poses a threat to service delivery including in some key COVID-19-related work. The unions want to see the appointment of 20000 employees, promotion for around 14000 and permanent status for around 5000 temporary workers. There has been a severe delay in appointing or promoting people who have been
