2023-04-28 13:48:08
“Nowadays, having a job is not synonymous or a guarantee of not being poor, that much is clear“, reported this morning the general secretary of CCOO of the Girona regions, Belén López. UGT and CCOO have called a rally this Friday at the gates of the Social Security headquarters in Girona on the occasion of international day of safety and health at work which, at the same time, has served as a precursor to May 1, worker’s day.
The two unions are calling for mobilization next Monday, in Plaça Independència de Girona, under the slogan “Raise wages, lower prices and distribute profits”. “We demand a distribution of the wealth“, stated the general secretary of UGT in the Girona regions, Maxi Rica.
With inflation, the unions report that “we are losing purchasing power to forced marches”. Within this context, Belén López remarks that “we are demanding that employers share the huge benefits they are having with the price increase”.
“In the beginning the rise in prices was caused by external factors, such as the increase in energy prices or imbalances in the supply chain, but now no longer, now they are internal factors and 86% ofthis increase is due to the increase in company profits“, said the general secretary of CCOO.
“They don’t want to raise wages, but they accept the tax cut, so it’s a ‘win win’ for them“, denounces Maxi Rica. “Being socially responsible in the company is not making recycled paper or installing photovoltaic panels, which is very good, it is distributing the benefits they are having, which we don’t say, the Treasury says. All small, medium and large companies are benefiting”, said Belén López, although he admits that, obviously, there may be some exceptions.
Apart from the salary struggle, unions also call for “putting people at the center of policies”, and more considering that the municipal elections are coming up. CCOO and UGT demand “increases in health, education and social policies”, since they consider that “it is another way to redistribute income”.
“Misogynistic” comments in the negotiation
The unions are immersed in the negotiation of some important agreements in the Girona counties, like metal or trade. In the latter, UGT and CCOO have ensured that During the negotiation table, “misogynistic” comments were made by the management, which caused the unions to leave the table. “It seems that all the problems in the sector come because it seems that women don’t want to work, you can’t blame women for the problems of small businesses, it’s absurd”, explained the general secretary of UGT in the Girona regions.
The problem with casualties
On the occasion of the international day of safety and health at work, the unions have denounced malpractice on the part of the mutuals when assessing workers’ health problems. “The mutuals are carrying out a practice with clearly business interests and always, or almost always, determine the leave as if it were a common leave when it should be an occupational accident or an occupational disease,” stated Maxi Rica.
For his part, Belén López explained that “there are 669 files pending to be resolved by Social Security in relation to whether the illness is of professional origin or a common illness”. The unions explain that these situations “drive them out of the public system at a cost to the public system and increase waiting lists”. From this point, they report that “all that is left for the worker is to make a contingency change to his own mutual and when he arrives at Social Security he finds that it takes two years to resolve”.
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