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The personal work without agreement of the consulates general of Spain in London, Manchester and Edinburgh and the embassy of Spain in the United Kingdom has called an indefinite strike that will begin this Monday. The measure, approved by the majority of the workers, comes after months of negotiations in which it has not been possible to respond to the demands of the group, which through numerous writings has informed both the Minister of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation , José Manuel Albares, as Director General of the Foreign Service, the situation in which they find themselves. A situation that he considers "precarious" and that has been "aggravated by the impact of Brexit on the British economy."
Workers from the three consulates and the head of mission will gather at 12:30 p.m. (local time) at the Spanish Embassy in the United Kingdom, in the neighborhood of Belgravia, as a sign of protest.
In the coming days, the strike will affect the services provided by the General Consulates of Spain in the United Kingdom and the Embassy of Spain in the United Kingdom.
“Personnel working abroad without an agreement have suffered from a wage freeze since 2008, a particularly worrying situation for workers in the United Kingdom where, after the country left the European Union, inflation has skyrocketed, reaching its highest point in the last 30 years”, they say in the statement where they explain the reasons for this strike. In this sense, the group demanded a salary update that corrects "the great loss of purchasing power resulting from thirteen years of freezing", which is equivalent to the accumulated inflation between 2008 and 2021.
They also ask for the immediate homogenization of the remuneration of all workers with the same administrative category and the option to contribute to the Spanish Social Security system (with higher benefits than the British system) after Brexit.
First steps to improve the situation
Diplomatic sources explain to ABC that this Strike occurs in the midst of the negotiations that are being carried out between this group of State officials and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation, which has already undertaken numerous actions to improve the situation of personnel " The update of the supplement called London Inner Allowance has been successfully processed, to improve wage conditions” and “numerous meetings with union representatives” have been held, as well as visits by the management team to the representations in the United Kingdom. In addition, the conditions for positions abroad are being improved in coordination with the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration.
From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation they assure that they are "doing everything possible to alleviate this situation and find solutions": , it has generated consequences for the situation of workers". They trust that everything will be resolved "as soon as possible, always from the dialogue with the union representatives, staff and other agents involved" and appear to be in full compliance with the applicable legal framework.
