The workers of the Joan XXIII residence for people with intellectual disabilities in Cerdanyola del Vallès have asked the Generalitat to assume the management of the center after the current concession company, Onada, announced the resignation of the contract.
The professionals, who report having lost 20% of purchasing power in the last fifteen years, began an indefinite strike on May 18, 2022 to improve their working conditions.
Nine months later, "the quality of service has undoubtedly improved" because the company has hired more staff, strike committee delegate Agustín Yáñez explained this Tuesday.
The workers' representative has warned that they will not call off the strike until the administration equates the conditions of the workforce with those of public workers in other residences.
The workers estimate that the salary increase would be about 300 euros gross per month. "The work is exactly the same, the only difference is that there is a management company in the middle," explained the strike committee delegate Sara Martín.
The establishment of minimum services in the center has forced the management company to apply ratios of worker staff to residents, thus forcing the hiring of new workers and improving the capacity to care for residents.
The delegates agree that since the strike began, both workers and clients have improved their quality of life. "We have the necessary personnel that the company had saved during these years," added Yáñez. Currently the center has one more monitor in the morning and afternoon shifts from Monday to Sunday, and one more monitor on some nights.
Yáñez has pointed out that "no one has controlled the conditions for the concession." The delegates have regretted that the company had not been inspected sooner, as they claim that it had been failing to comply with the agreements with the executive for some time. "Until now, seven years after the concession, the Ministry did not control whether the company was complying with the agreed conditions," added the union member.
The workers fear that Onada could win the concession again and continue to fail to comply with the specifications. That is why they ask that the Department of Social Rights be the one to directly assume management and equate the conditions of the staff with those of public workers in other residences. "She is responsible for finding a way out and approaching positions with the concessionaire of the residence," said Martín. In addition, professionals ask that the Executive take care of the cost of traveling to the center, which is located in an isolated area.
