The agents of the Local Police of Santa Cruz de Tenerife have approved by majority the proposal from the City Council that guarantees job stability until 2031 in exchange for a progressive improvement of the specific supplement that will reach around 250 euros gross per month.
The assembly of agents held this Thursday in the Tenerife capital has given the green light to the agreement proposed by the Human Resources Department, with 119 votes in favour against 54 against. The pact means the immediate lifting of the pressure measures that the staff had maintained since early July, when the police stopped doing overtime as a protest against the lack of updating of their salaries.
A salary increase that will take years to materialise
The agreement includes an annual revaluation of the specific supplement for police officers, officials, and sub-inspectors, linked to the evaluation of various job factors. According to the data provided to the staff, the improvement will reach approximately 250 euros gross per month in 2031, although the amount will progressively increase each year as the value of the salary point is updated.
For the residents of Santa Cruz, this pact means that the coverage of services during the summer will be guaranteed. The refusal to do overtime threatened to leave the security devices planned for the summer months without reinforcement, a key season for the city due to its tourist influx and the celebration of events such as the patron saint festivals.
The conflict has dragged on since 2004
The origin of the conflict lay in the lack of updating of the job evaluations, pending since 2004. The agents had been demanding a review of their salary conditions for over two decades, which they considered outdated compared to other police forces on the island. As a pressure measure, the staff had decided to stop performing voluntary services outside their working hours, forcing the City Council to reorganise the security devices planned for the summer.
The tension between both parties has been felt intensely in recent weeks. The City Council of Santa Cruz, governed by the socialist José Manuel Bermúdez, needed to resolve the conflict before it affected public safety during the peak season. The Human Resources Department, led by Alberto Bernabé, has been responsible for negotiating the agreement.
The agreement still awaits legal endorsement
However, the pact is not without controversy. During the assembly where the outcome of the negotiation was reported, it was warned that the text has not yet received favourable reports from the municipal legal services or from the City Council's Intervention, so it currently lacks definitive legal backing. Despite this, the majority of the union representatives decided to support the proposal and submit it to a vote, obtaining enough support to end the conflict.
The document is expected to be formalised in September and will be valid until 2031. Among its commitments is to maintain a climate of job stability during that period, which in practice means renouncing new pressure measures related to this conflict as long as the agreed conditions are met.
CSIF distances itself from the agreement
The union CSIF, which does not have voting representation at the negotiation table, has made it clear that it will not sign the agreement, although it respects the decision made by the majority of the union. With the acceptance of the pact, the City Council manages to close a conflict that threatened to affect the ordinary functioning of the Local Police, while the staff obtains an economic improvement that puts an end, at least for now, to a demand that has been open for more than two decades.
For the agents, the progressive increase represents recognition of their work, although some believe that the pace of increase is too slow. The residents of Santa Cruz, for their part, can breathe easy: police forces will return to cover extraordinary services without restrictions, ensuring safety on the streets in the coming months.
You may also like
