After more than 17 years working as a cook at the Barcelona City Council, Manuel Escribano was forced to leave the stoves of the Consistory in January 2024 for not proving the knowledge of Catalan. They demanded a level B2 (intermediate) to renew the contract and did not pass it, as indicated by the municipal authorities. Advised by the lawyer Angel Escolaneither, President of Catalan Civic Coexistence (CCC), the Cordoba chef went to justice and now the courts endorse his dismissal based on the fact that the demand of Catalan is not “disproportionate” in his case.
Manuel feels “one more victim” of the linguistic dictatorship in Catalonia and ensures, in statements to ABC, that after his dismissal there is, by the City Council, “a retaliation for planting myself before the demand of Catalan «. He is also convinced that the Consistory “wanted to take away from the middle, since it intended to outsource the service and bothered them.”
According to the Judgment of the Social Court 32 of Barcelona, to which ABC has had access, the judge dismisses the claim of the Andalusian chef, who requested that the dismissal “for violation of labor rights” be declared void “and for” incurring fraud of law “, and argues that” the constitutionality of the demand of Catalan is therefore recognized by the Constitutional Court (TC), with the proviso that it is not used disproportionately in the specific case, being able to go to the ordinary jurisdiction to appreciate discrimination or, where appropriate, the appeal for amparo ».
In his ruling, the judge dismisses the allegation of “discrimination due to language” and “considers that the bases had to have been challenged, not just dismissal. Thus, since Manuel did not resort to the bases of the contest, this lawsuit is not estimated, ”says the lawyer Angel Escolano, who advances that the ruling will resort to the ruling before the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC). The sentence sets compensation in 20 days per year worked with a salary year limit.
Escribano was hired by the Barcelona City Council in 2007 and after chaining several contracts, he managed to reach the category of labor personnel in 2014. At the end of 2022 the cCatalan onnsistory He began a stabilization process through merit contest, in which his place was included. To acquire it, however, it was necessary to prove a level B2 of Catalan, although the professional worked only in the stoves and his function was only cooking.
Manuel approved, as stated in statements to ABC, every year the courses organized by the Consortium for linguistic normalization (CPNL). That year, the City Council demanded the B2 and convened its own evidence, parallel to those of the consortium, for its workers. Neither he nor other municipal interim approved it.
The exam took place on September 29, 2023. «I went out with Good feelingsIn fact, shortly after, on December 21, I approved the CPNL exam, which is not easy. However, in the review of the City Council exam, I see that I was suspended. It is rare ». To top it off, the dismissal was notified in January when it was on a low problem in a ligament.
On January 9, 2024, the cook signed the dismissal with the promise, as noted in statements to ABC, “that they would take me in a few days when the penalty had passed.” It did not happen and the next month they informed him that his place had been amortized. «I signed the dismissal with the B2 title of the CPNL in my hand but they ignored me. They referred to their test and, according to them he had not surpassed it, ”says Manuel, who insistently requested the exam and did not grant it.
«They were smarter and they made me the test before to take me out of Enmedio. They were looking for a cheap dismissal. They advanced the evidence so that it did not have the certificate. They wanted to amortize the square and make it external. Proof of this is that they promised me that they would take me again when the penalty time passed and, after time, they told me that my place was already amortized, ”he says in statements to this newspaper. Today the kitchen service of the Barcelona town hall is outsourced.
Manuel’s case is not unique, another 11 municipal workers have not been able to qualify for the official square for the same reason, as admitted in statements to this newspaper Municipal Fuentes. The case of José Joaquín Sánchez, Barcelona City Council musician since 1997, to which the Barcelona town hall did not make a fixed for not dominating Catalan is another. Like Escribano, Sánchez presented a contentious-administrative appeal against the City Council when considering that the basis of the aforementioned contest that requires as a condition to access the square the linguistic requirement “attempts against the Constitution.” He appealed to the contest bases and is pending sentence.
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