The PRC candidate for the Presidency of Cantabria, Paula Fernández, will bring this Monday, September 28, to the Plenary of the Parliament of Cantabria a non-legislative proposal with which she will urge the Government of Spain (PSOE-Sumar) to strengthen the funding and staff of Correos, ensuring a public postal service "of quality, effective, efficient, and accessible" throughout the Cantabrian territory.
In a statement, Fernández has emphasized the role of Correos as "an element of cohesion and territorial structuring" and has warned about the effects of the current lack of resources and personnel that the public company is facing, with "repercussions both on the working conditions of the employees and on the quality of the service that citizens receive."
"We cannot allow the lack of personnel to end up weakening a public service that is essential and especially necessary for those who live in our towns," the regionalist leader has insisted, demanding "adequate coverage regardless of the place of residence."
In this line, she has highlighted the daily work of postal workers in rural municipalities and in areas at risk of depopulation, where their presence "transcends the provision of the postal service itself." As she has pointed out, "they are a fundamental piece to keep our towns alive, where they also fulfill an important role of companionship for the neighbors, especially for the elderly and the most vulnerable."
The initiative that will be debated in the Plenary urges the Government of Cantabria (PP) to demand from the central Executive a reinforcement of the funding for the public postal service, in order to guarantee its quality and promote the social and economic cohesion of all the regions.
In addition, the text proposes to call for a "sufficient" public employment offer to cover the structural positions and reduce the high temporality and part-time work that, according to the PRC, currently exists in Correos.
In this context, Fernández has warned of the consequences of "the insufficient replenishment of the vacant positions and the lack of replacement for the absences," which result in "an increasing workload" and a rate of temporality that "exceeds 30 percent of the staff." "You cannot demand a quality public service if we do not provide those who have to deliver it with the necessary means and personnel," she has emphasized.
In his opinion, reinforcing the workforce will not only improve working conditions, but will also allow Correos "to adequately fulfill its function and offer the same service to citizens in rural areas as to those residing in the main population centers."
Inclusion in the EBEP and job stability
The regionalist proposal also demands strict compliance with the Universal Postal Service Law, especially regarding the maintenance of a quality and accessible service for all citizens, and proposes promoting the inclusion of Correos' labor personnel in the Basic Statute of Public Employees (EBEP).
Fernández has reminded that Correos employees work in a public company and perform essential functions, but are classified as labor personnel, a situation that, in his opinion, generates "uncertainty and instability" and "limits" their options for internal promotion and professional career development.
Finally, the regionalist candidate trusts that the rest of the parliamentary groups will support an initiative that, as he has argued, "aims for nothing other than ensuring that Correos continues to reach all Cantabrians, wherever they live, with the human and economic resources it needs."