According to the Nursing Union (SATSE), the accumulation of salary cuts in the public health sector has resulted in a loss of purchasing power of up to 40 percent for those working in the field. This consequence is directly related to the continuity of the cuts in special payments that have been consistently implemented since June 2010. As the media reports on the union statements, nurses and physiotherapists in the public sector will once again receive a lower amount than they would be entitled to in the next Christmas bonus, which means they will be deprived of around 350 euros compared to the legally stipulated amount.
According to the publications, this situation is not new for the professionals concerned. SATSE explained that this is the thirty-first time that these groups have experienced a reduction in their extraordinary wages, as the reduction made fifteen years ago is still unresolved. The trade union organization argues that the Spanish executive’s refusal to restore these amounts canceled during the economic crisis continues to lead to wage inequality, while demanding full reimbursement of the canceled amounts.
The origin of the measure dates back to 2010, when the government under the presidency of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero introduced a reduction in special payments for civil servants as an extraordinary response to the crisis. According to SATSE, not even subsequent managers, led first by Mariano Rajoy and now by Pedro Sánchez, have reversed this adjustment, thus maintaining the difference with the salary recognized as labor law before this year. According to the union’s calculations, the cuts range from 321 euros for those who have worked for three years to over 366 euros for those who have accumulated 15 years of service.
In the claims collected by the media, SATSE highlighted that the cut in additional wages represents an average decrease of 27 percent compared to the original amount, which directly affects the salaries of thousands of health professionals and other sectors of public servants. The organization referred to this fact as evidence of “clear discrimination” since entitlement to the full amount of these extraordinary allowances had not been restored.
The union formulates its demands in the campaign “Don’t let them eat a single euro from our extras”, which aims to influence the preparation of the next general state budget law. According to the media, SATSE wants this legal instrument to include the full refund of the reduced special payments in order to put an end to the salary reduction, which they considered unfair.
As part of these protests, according to media reports, demonstrations took place in health care work centers last June, where workers expressed their dissatisfaction by referring to successive heads of government responsible for continuing the cuts as “Comepagas.” SATSE stressed that the non-compliance, in its opinion, violates the provisions of the Framework Regulations for Statutory Health Staff and the Basic Regulations of Public Servants, provisions which stipulate that the basic salary and seniority increases must be equated to the amount of a monthly payment for the purposes of calculating additional payments.
According to media reports, the union warned that union pressure will increase if Pedro Sánchez’s board decides to extend the current budgets without including in its measures the full reimbursement of these special salaries. SATSE made it clear that it will continue its campaign and continue the mobilizations until the right, in its opinion, is regained by nurses, physiotherapists and all affected public employees.
Finally, the media pointed out that, from SATSE’s point of view, the persistence of the cut is not due to current economic factors, but rather to a political decision that maintains a situation that they consider unsustainable. The union is calling for the urgent adoption of a regulation that resolves the conflict and rejects the adoption of new budget extensions, which it says would mean maintaining salary cuts that have been in place for more than a decade.
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