Miguel Socorro is no longer alone in seeking the full restoration of public servants’ extra pay: a broad national trade union front is taking shape

Miguel Socorro and a trade union front

The Independent Trade Union Centre for Civil Servants (CSIF) has joined a platform formed by the State Confederation of Medical Trade Unions (CESM), the Andalusian Medical Union (SMA), FEDECA, USIE and TAMPM.

The organisations are joining forces to put forward a common demand affecting more than 3 million workers across all public administrations.

Miguel Socorro, a Fuerteventura native and senior official at the Fuerteventura Island Council, has been pursuing this demand for years. His campaign now has more voices behind it and focuses mainly on the full restoration of extra payments and the reinstatement of the salary structure in place before Royal Decree-Law 8/2010 was approved.

The cut was introduced in exceptional economic circumstances, as Socorro has repeatedly pointed out, but its effects have continued for sixteen years, despite the circumstances that prompted it having passed.

Miguel Socorro has appealed not only to the central government but also to various organisations, urging them to act.

For years, the Fuerteventura native has persisted in tackling what he clearly describes as a “clear injustice”. He therefore welcomes the creation of this front and CSIF’s participation, believing that trade union unity could prove decisive in opening negotiations with the Government of Spain and ending a cut that has remained in place since 2010.

More than 3 million public servants… including in Fuerteventura

The trade union front is calling on the government to allocate the funds needed to restore extra payments in full and include this restoration in upcoming pay and budget measures.

The joint demand also calls for negotiations with the central government and for every available avenue — collective bargaining, mobilisation, political initiatives and legal action — to be used to secure the full restoration of this pay entitlement.

In a recent press release, CSIF puts the average annual salary loss caused by the cut at approximately €1,600 for employees in group A1, €1,020 for those in group A2 and €500 for those in group C1.

According to figures in the Statistical Bulletin on Public Administration Personnel, the measure affects 3,107,195 public servants.

Of these, 540,830 work in the General State Administration, 1,934,335 in the autonomous communities and 632,030 in local administrations.

Those affected include doctors, healthcare staff, teachers, education inspectors, General State Administration civil servants, Justice workers, members of the Security Forces and Corps, prison staff, and employees of town councils, provincial councils, island councils, universities and island councils such as the cabildos.