The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, met with the Secretary General of Public Services of UGT Canarias, Francisco Bautista, to discuss the update of the residence allowance for personnel of the General State Administration in the islands and its potential extension to transferred public employees of the Autonomous Community.
The meeting also included the Minister of Presidency, Public Administrations, Justice and Security, Nieves Lady Barreto, and the Secretary of the General State Administration Sector of UGT Canarias, Antonio Terrones.
Minister Nieves Lady Barreto stated that the Government of the Canary Islands will incorporate this demand into the negotiation of the Canarias Decree. She noted that the measure affects between 80,000 and 90,000 people and considered it unfair that a state decision, made for another autonomous community, harms the Canary Islands.
Barreto explained that the president has already communicated the proposal to the Ministers of Territorial Policy and Finance. She advocated for the need to update the amounts and review other aspects of the allowance to adapt it to the current reality of the Canary Islands and maintain the archipelago's attractiveness for personnel of the General State Administration.
For his part, Francisco Bautista, from UGT Canarias, expressed support for the increase in the allowance in Balearic Islands but emphasized the distinct reality of the Canary Islands as an ultra-peripheral region, which should be recognized by the State in this allowance.
Bautista detailed that the union has requested an urgent meeting with the Government of the Canary Islands and has conveyed the request to the Ministry of Territorial Policy. They are asking that any improvement for the Balearic Islands preserves the differentiation of the Canary Islands and that the update extends to personnel of the General State Administration and to transferred public employees in Health, Education, and Justice, benefiting approximately 90,000 public employees.
Both parties agreed on the importance of the regulation of the residence allowance considering the specific conditions of the Canary Islands as an ultra-peripheral region, thereby contributing to ensuring adequate coverage of public services in the archipelago.
