The Staff Committee representing civil servants at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council has urged the dismissal of the general director of Social Policies, María del Pilar Rodríguez Machín, citing “ineffective management.” Ana María Álvarez García, the committee’s secretary, informed this publication that the department is in a state of resource scarcity, leading to heightened anxiety and stress among staff.
During the Ordinary Session on Wednesday, 21 August 2024, the Board “unanimously resolved by the attending delegates, to solicit the dismissal of the General and Political Director of the Social Policies sector due to the poor management of the department,” as stated by the Personnel Board in an announcement. Nevertheless, the CSIF union has distanced itself from this resignation request.
Álvarez emphasises that personnel have endured this predicament for quite some time; however, conditions have deteriorated with the onset of the present management. “The approach to staff is inappropriate, bordering on disrespectful,” she observes.
She highlights that even with the stabilisation of interim employees, “those who could exit the department have done so.” “What we are currently experiencing is exceedingly difficult,” affirms the secretary of the Personnel Board, who insists on the importance of voicing these concerns, “because if we neglect the staff—who are the ones serving the public—especially in social services, the professionals there are driven by vocation; they are dedicated professionals.”
The personnel stress that this management approach has a “profoundly adverse” effect on the workers’ health and their capacity to perform their roles. As a result, “it also impacts the population they assist, particularly the most vulnerable within the municipality.”
This is not the first occasion on which staff have alerted about the conditions in the Social Services sector. In July, they called for “protection for all Social Care Service staff, encompassing psychological safety and safeguarding their personal security,” alongside requests for “technical autonomy in carrying out their responsibilities.” The staff also advocated for the dissolution of the IMAS and the subsequent reintegration of Social Care Service personnel back into the City Council.
The unions ASIPAL, CCOO, CSIF, IC, SEPCA, and UGT also denounced this summer “the state of precariousness, neglect, and mistreatment endured by Social Care Service staff due to political negligence.” “A clear indication of this serious issue lies in the deficient organisation, planning, monitoring, leadership, and communication, which have almost ceased to exist; the technical independence of the Service is equally jeopardised,” they underscored.
“The shortage of staff undermines the quality of work and interventions; this lack results in excessive workloads that do not align with current legislation, causing severe problems regarding workers’ health, as reflected in the psychosocial evaluations of these dedicated professionals,” they asserted previously.
An Uncompromising RPT
Moreover, she criticises that the agreements made during the meeting on 25 July between the Personnel Board and the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez, concerning the RPT of the Social Care Service “which will not be negotiated prior to the year’s end, contradicting the mayor’s assurances,” have not been honoured, nor has the Technical Committee been convened to discuss modifications to the RPT. She also condemns that “the safety of personnel in the UTS has not been enhanced.”
In July, employees also urged the “immediate establishment” of a Sectoral Staff Board, where collective bargaining would address matters not only related to the creation and development of an RPT and a job position catalogue, but also all additional issues impacting the Social Care Service, directly or indirectly concerning the staff.
