The works council of the workers of the regional television of Castilla y León has called a strike this October 3. The staff denounces terrible working conditions both economically and in “rights and conciliation.” The service is provided by private companies supported by an annual subsidy from the Board (PP) of 21.3 million euros. Employees have rejected offers of salary improvements, which are far from their requests due to the very low remuneration bases from which they start, and insist on the importance of raising daily issues such as shift management, the application of overtime or work arrangements. between work and personal life. The Board avoids the debate, claiming that they are issues related to “a private company” and that it has “no role in the negotiation,” which has been taking place since the previous agreement expired in January 2024.
During the day, protests have taken place at various regional television headquarters in the provinces and in front of the Office of the President in Valladolid, the department on which television depends. Ministry spokespersons express the Board’s position as follows: “As with any private company, we want the situation to be fixed, but we have no role in the negotiations.” Television, unlike many regions, is not public, but rather a private company supported by public funds. The successful bidder belongs to a media conglomerate linked to construction businessmen and with links to the PP.
Marcos Sacristán, from the works council, regrets that “in nine months of negotiation the company has not gone beyond the 1.5% salary increase”, not even after negotiating with the regional labor mediation service. This proposal was considered “ridiculous and insufficient”, since the workers demand a 6% increase “on very low salaries” and although they believe that it is still insufficient, they assure that it will at least allow them to pay their expenses “with dignity.” The minimum interprofessional salary is 1,134 per month and the average remuneration of this company, according to Sacristán, is between 1,200 and 1,400 euros in 14 payments, with bosses at 1,800 euros per month.
STRIKE on October 3 on CYLTV.
The Government of Castilla y León @jcyl He still doesn’t know. How are the more than 21 million euros that you give to Castilla y León Televisión distributed? @cyltv. In what pockets is that money deposited? We workers continue to have precarious salaries. pic.twitter.com/vRT2LvHsTW— CYLTV WORKERS (@CyltvT) September 29, 2024
Sacristán affirms that, after nine months of fruitless talks, there was talk of a strike and the company changed its position: they offered an extra payment of 500 euros in the first year and 850 in the second. The sum is equivalent to 35.71 and 60.71 euros more per month, an amount considered scarce by potential beneficiaries.
This pre-agreement, signed by the unions, was put to the vote this Wednesday, but was rejected by the majority – 58.75%, although the staff assures that many bosses voted in favor to try to counteract the negative -, which has given way to the strike. “The agreement has not been touched for more than 10 years and is obsolete due to insufficient rights, haggling over days of own business, overtime… it is impossible to reconcile,” laments the staff representative, who recalls that, during the pandemic , the work went ahead with continuous shifts and not with the current split shifts. Sacristán assures that these continuous shifts are legal, but they make it unfeasible to reconcile with shifts from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 18:00 to 22:00. “What life do I have? “How do I have a partner or go to the movies?” he asks.
The other parties, he laments, collide in a paradox: “The Board is inhibited because it is not their company and the company is inhibited because it is not their money.” The general director of Radio Television Castilla y León, Jorge Losada, defends the “company’s will to agree” and a pre-agreement resulting from “efforts”, first supported by the committee, but rejected by the workers. “We have the will to put an end to this situation and we will have to negotiate again,” indicates the senior official, who considered that first proposal “a good point.”
The aggrieved have used social networks to point out the regional president, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (PP), who this Wednesday defended freedom of expression and the media in a newspaper forum. “The Board still doesn’t know. How are the more than 21 million euros that you give to Castilla y León Televisión distributed? In what pockets is that money deposited? “We workers continue to have precarious salaries,” a user has posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The motto of the affected workers is There are plenty of reasons and several have published details of personal interference prior to the vote that ratified the strike: “Some colleagues are suffering pressure, walks through offices and the typical ‘you know what you’re doing’. Others take for granted something that has not even been voted on yet. It smells very bad.” Sacristán empathizes with his colleagues from the provinces with less weight: “The workers are inhibited, afraid. In the smaller delegations there is no force.” Francisco González, from Comisiones Obreras, estimates morning support of 90% in Valladolid and between 40% and 50% in the other provinces.
The TVCyL workers, fed up with precariousness, have decided to continue with the strike planned tomorrow.
The meager salary proposal of the “company” does not solve the underlying problem.
Mañueco must rescue the public TV service and pay its workers decently. pic.twitter.com/LuLAATMIzi— Vicente Andrés (@VicenteAndresGr) October 2, 2024
Consulting workers yields a succession of complaints about their employment, financial and personal situation, common in the media sector. One of these sources highlights, apart from the monetary, how these professionals “with bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees or 10 and 20 years of experience” work on a split shift basis for a base salary of 1,200 or 1,300 euros in 14 payments, with no job prospects or improvements. There is also no teleworking nor are vacancies filled, they allege, with more “pressure and stress” for the rest; The material or the sets are not improved and “you don’t see that money on a day-to-day basis.”
Another employee points out: “At this rate, the minimum wage is going up and it ends up catching us, when we are professionals not only with a lot of training, but we do more tasks than we are required to do without any extra.” Meanwhile, “bad atmosphere due to overload and nonsense”, tears and insomnia.
The editorial line urges them to direct the information “towards this party.” [PP]even if it is not the news of the day.” News sources assure that Mañueco’s team has called to organize the content and that there have been dismissals for opposing the Board. A former television employee remembers having “almost 20 contracts in three years.” Its instability manifested itself in monthly hiring, extensions, layoffs, calls after two days, a month of hiatus, another month incorporated and more extensions. Upon entering he was placed in a lower category. The date of the strike has been chosen because this Thursday the new television season will be presented in an auditorium in Valladolid at whose doors the staff will gather.
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