The UGT unions and Workers’ Commissions emerged, this Wednesday, “very disappointed” from a meeting with the Ministry of Public Function. From the department headed by Óscar López, they have suggested to the union organizations that “the ideal thing for them is to wait for the General State Budgets of 2026 and thus implement the 35-hour day in the General Administration of the State with the rank of law,” as they have explained in a statement.
In practice, this possibility would delay the reduction of working hours, committed by the Executive in the mid-December meeting to next March. And I would, furthermore, sine thebecause parliamentary arithmetic and Junts’ refusal to support any PSOE initiative make new accounts unfeasible, for the moment. But, in the best scenario for the Government, the approval of hypothetical budgets for the current year would be delayed, at least, until June.
Despite the “disappointment” of the unions, after a few weeks of good harmony with the Public Service, with the approval of the new framework agreement and a salary increase of 11% accumulated until 2028, they expect more “certainties and progress” in the meeting they will hold next Wednesday. Otherwise, we reserve the possibility of undertaking the actions that we consider appropriate to bring these completely essential matters to a successful conclusion,” they warn.
The implementation of the 35-hour week in the General State Administration was already a commitment of the previous framework agreement, which was pending and has even surpassed the signing of the new multi-year agreement. As is also the partial retirement of official and statutory personnel and professional classification. “They are unfulfilled commitments of the Framework Agreement for a 21st Century Administration, whose validity expired in December 2024, and which are equally urgent to close,” they clarify.
Another of the Government’s pending tasks is to recover the partial retirement of the workforce, “a priority issue” for the organizations, which consider it “vital to be able to continue with the good line of negotiation that has been opened with the new Public Service team.” The entry into force of the pension reform, in April 2025, left the public administration workforce in limbo, who could benefit from this modality but who with the new regulations must wait for opposition processes to be called and resolved for the relievers, with the time delay that this implies.
Source: www.eldiario.es
