2023-09-14 17:18:23
The Oversight Commission met this Tuesday the 12th, and one of the points was to know the status of the legal actions, so the following appeared: Byron Almeida, from the Attorney General’s Office, and Miguel Muñoz, from Human Talent.
The local municipality is the fourth largest in Ecuador in terms of payroll, and in 2023 it has dismissed 215 people, the same ones who have imposed protection actions, with concern about the economic impact that would be suffered if these legal cases are lost.
During the session there were several tense moments, since councilors such as Rafael Quitio or Galo Falconí moved for more documentation, while the status of said processes was not allowed to be known.
According to the president of the Oversight Commission, Carlos Aulla, the dismissal of employees is a municipal act subject to oversight; However, for Councilor Rafael Quitio “we must understand that we are legislative, not executive.”
In the Organic Code of Territorial Organization, Autonomy and Decentralization (COOTAD), in its articles 57 and 58 it is stated that councilors must know the functional organic structure of the municipalities, in addition to supervising the actions of the cantonal executive (mayor).
For Aulla: “they boycotted the inspection session and did not allow the protection actions to be read, especially due to the losses by the Municipality.” He also expressed concern about lost court cases and the impact of staff reinstatement. Likewise, he mentioned that payments will be made taking into account the entire time they were separated.
Approval
The session ended with the approval of the motion to request more information, but they did not set a specific time for its delivery. Quitio said that they will wait as long as necessary, while Aulla noted that they will be aware of how long it takes.
They also mentioned the case of an official with a 63% disability who was fired and then reinstated. The director of Human Talent admitted the mistake and stated that they reached a ‘friendly agreement’ before the hearing.
Muñoz explained that they reinstated 4 people of the 215 dismissed, and also clarified that they have not fired people with permanent or provisional contracts.
In cases of occasional service contracts, unilateral termination of the contract is possible, which can occur by any of the parties and “does not generate compensation, except for pending vacation days, a matter of payment of thirteenth and fourth salaries.” He also mentioned that “At no time has compensation been paid and it will not be paid, as stipulated by law,” the official concluded.
In those jobs, other personnel assumed their roles. In this way, Muñoz declared that “in some cases we have had to dismiss officials, two people have had to return to their positions and others have had to be dismissed to comply with the sentence determined by the judge.”
The Municipality, per year, spends 24 million dollars in salary payments, given that there are two thousand employees. Muñoz added that former mayor Napoleón Cadena Oleas had 1,000 employees in the first administration.
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