Malaga's fire department and Local Police emergency operators on the verge of indefinite strike

Employment

If the strike goes forward after the meeting on Wednesday, the authorities will have to establish minimum services

Pilar R. Quirós

Malaga's 080 (fire department) and 092 (Local Police) emergency operators have called an indefinite strike for 3pm on Wednesday, 10 June.

The 36 municipal service employees, including coordinators and managers, are demanding better working conditions. Their salaries are close to the minimum wage, according to their current collective bargaining agreement.

The city council has not yet established minimum service levels, which are mandatory for such emergency services.

A group of workers gathered outside Malaga city hall on Tuesday. They managed to meet with Mayor Paco de la Torre, who, they said, showed interest in their working conditions.

As municipal sources pointed out, however, it is up to the company awarded the contract (Eulen) to improve those conditions. There is a prior commitment from the city that, when the current contract for this emergency service expires (in October), the next tender will include certain social clauses that would improve their working conditions to some extent.

The workers, as CGT union representative Mari Cruz León told SUR, have called an indefinite strike, unless Eulen makes them a counteroffer that they can consider. The workers' commission (CCOO) and the professional firefighters union of Malaga (SPBM) also represent these workers.

What these workers are requesting is an improvement to their working hours, specifically a reduction from 39 to 35 hours per week, an emergency or responsibility bonus and a reclassification, because they are currently covered by the dispatcher collective agreement, which they believe does not reflect their skilled emergency response work.

As Mari Cruz León explained, almost all the workers hold a professional certificate in emergency call operations, management and coordination, making reclassification feasible.

According to municipal sources, the problem stems from their labour agreement, which is currently under review and for which they should request an emergency operator specification within the agreement (call handling). This is a nationwide issue between employees and unions.

Regarding working hours, municipal sources said that this is also a matter directly related to the sector's collective bargaining agreement. Reclassification would not be entirely feasible, according to the city council, since there are workers who do not have the certificate and it would be an unfair comparison with the rest, given that most have at least 15 years of experience.

If the strike goes forward, the Andalusian regional government or the city council will have to establish minimum services.