- ELA and Acaipé-UGT have denounced that the working conditions of prison workers have not been determined and have been dissatisfied with some of the measures taken. On 1 October, the CAV will gain jurisdiction over the prisons of Basauri, Zaballa and Martutene, and the change affects more than 700 workers.
The Basque Government will assume the competence of prisons from 1 October in the Basque Country. In the three prisons of the CAV (Basauri, Zaballa and Martutene, which will be closed with the construction of the Zubieta prison) there are some 700 workers. The Basque Government and ELA met on Wednesday to negotiate the working conditions of these workers. However, the union has shown its "disagreement" with the lack of concreteness of the government and with some of the measures taken.
ELA denounces that in the absence of less than one month for the transfer of competition, the Basque Government has not taken any specific decision: “We do not yet know what the Basque Government’s proposal is for this staff to be integrated into the Administration of the Basque Autonomous Community and what their working conditions will be. Wages are unspecified and the peculiarities of the collective are not taken into account when it comes to working hours".
For its part, the union has denounced that there are "serious deficiencies" in some of the points that must be specified. The occupational health and safety plan for the workers of the three prisons is not yet in place, and the Euskaldunization plan is lacking to adapt the workforce to the prisons. More staff are also needed to meet the needs of prisons, although the list of jobs is not yet adapted. Suppose the current number of workers could not respond to a prison like Zaballa.
Despite the fact that the Basque Government wants to open a new labour market, ELA does not look favourably on the way forward. They have not yet identified a public job offer (OPE), but they have shown their intention to open a temporary job exchange: “This would mean an increase in one of the main conditions of the Basque Government, the provisionality, in a direction contrary to that of the European Commission.”
The UGT trade union shares
The union president, Acaipé-UGT, also appeared at a press conference on Tuesday before the media. José Ramón López pointed out that the extension of an OPE is necessary to adequately meet the employment demands, but with the plan that the Government wants to implement, it would not be possible for the workers to enter into operation before two years.
According to the union, 90 workers are currently missing from the Bizkaibus workforce: “30 per cent of staff seats and 10 per cent of staff are to be filled.” UGT has announced that the situation could become even more complicated, as the workers in the three Basque prisons are ready to ask for the transfer. According to the union, by 1 October, 350 of the 700 workers would be calling for a change of assignment to a new prison.