The parliamentary group of the PSOE in the Cortes of Aragon is going to register a bill with the aim of improving the working conditions of the approximately 25,000 workers who make up the dependency care sector in the community.
The general secretary of the Aragonese socialists, Pilar Alegría, held a meeting this Friday at the party's regional headquarters with professionals from the sector and union representatives from UGT and CCOO, in order to learn firsthand about their demands and problems. Alegría had already held a previous meeting with this group during the 8F electoral campaign.
"One of the priorities of the Socialist Party is to work to improve the conditions of the people who care for our relatives in residences, through home help, assistance, care for people with disabilities, who perform a vocational job and that vocation must be recognized through a regional agreement," said Alegría.
"Their workload is very considerable: in addition to the physical effort they must make, there is also the emotional effort, to which in many cases is added that they earn just the minimum interprofessional salary," argued the socialist.
Towards a specific regional agreement
"For these workers to have the recognition and dignity they deserve, a new law is fundamental that makes possible a regional agreement that recognizes improvements from the point of view of labor and also training, in addition to the recognition of the different categories," she added.
"It is about taking care of those who take care of us, because surely all of us tomorrow will need this service and I think it is only fair, if we want a prosperous Aragon that moves forward," said Alegría, who was accompanied at the meeting by the regional deputy Mónica Iglesias.
The socialist leader stressed that the vocation of this staff "must be recognized" and called for the urgent approval of a regional collective agreement. "Aragonese society also needs to know what work these women, fundamentally, do," whose workload "is very considerable."
During her speech, Alegría gave the example of a nursing home where 98 residents stay overnight and only two workers are responsible for attending to them all. Based on this case, she stressed that, to guarantee that users receive "the best of services," it is "a fundamental piece" that these professionals have "the recognition and dignity they deserve," which involves moving forward with a sectoral law and an autonomous collective agreement that includes not only labor advancements but also in the area of training and category recognition, and, ultimately, "taking care of those who take care of us" because "it is only fair."
"We must not be doing something right if we have such a significant number of workers who are receiving, for their hard work, something less than or very similar to the minimum interprofessional wage." In this regard, she raised the need to review the ratios applied in contracts with private residences.
Alegría also stressed that the Spanish Government's contribution to the financing of dependency has been "growing," compared to the period before Pedro Sánchez, when it did not reach 15% of the effective cost. "Today we are already very close to that 50%, which was the commitment made by the Government of Aragon and the Government of Spain, a commitment they must undoubtedly reach."