The plenary of the Assembly of Extremadura has rejected a proposal from the PSOE urging the Junta to set a schedule of meetings for the General Negotiation Table, with the aim of initiating a "specific" negotiation on the homologation and equalization of public employee salaries.
In the same initiative, the PSOE requested the preparation of an "updated" and "homogeneous" technical report on salary differences; in addition to urging the regional Executive to agree on a multi-year "salary convergence" agreement and to analyze the implementation of tools that allow for "progressive" advancement in salary equalization.
The proposal only had the support of PSOE and Unidas por Extremadura and was rejected by the votes against from PP and Vox, who justified their position by claiming that there are already negotiation tables convened.
Arguments of the PSOE
In defense of the text, socialist deputy María Curiel called for reflection on the situation of public personnel in Extremadura, with salary differences estimated "up to 20 percent" compared to other workers performing "the same job"; and demanded that the regional budgets for 2027 include items that allow public employees to "believe" that salary homologation "is possible".
"This reality is difficult to justify and that is why the Junta has to start working on this," she pointed out, warning next that equal opportunities will not be real as long as the current "differences" persist. She called for addressing the problem with "responsibility" and "only with political will," convinced that the Junta "has sufficient budgetary capacity to address improvements".
According to Curiel, the regional Executive is trying to "pit" public employees "against the rest of society" by "delaying" the response to their demands. "If there are resources to increase the budget and room to promote other policies, why is the reduction of the salary gap not addressed with the same determination?" she posed, recalling that the PP included this issue in its electoral program for 2023.
The deputy has also claimed a "constructive dialogue" that recognizes the "importance" of public employees through salary improvements. She pointed out that the sectoral tables will be held next week, but lamented that the General Negotiation Table has not met to address this issue since April 2025. "It is time to face this problem," she emphasized.
Position of the PP, Vox, and Unidas por Extremadura
In the turn of position setting, the PP deputy Agustín Delgado Donoso has assured that his group shares the objective of "advancing towards salary standardization" of public personnel in the community, and has reminded that there are sectoral tables convened for October 15.
Therefore, he considers that the socialist proposal makes no sense because "the negotiation is open, the Junta shares the objective, and the negotiation table is convened." He emphasized that, since María Guardiola arrived at the regional Government, nearly 400 million euros have been allocated to improvements for public employees and "debts" inherited from previous socialist executives have been paid, which, in his opinion, demonstrates that the autonomous Administration responds with "facts."
The Vox deputy Beatriz Muñoz has described the PSOE initiative as a "joke" for public employees, understanding that it "mixes regimes of officials" and does not specify the budget allocation that, in her opinion, would be essential to undertake salary standardization in the sector.
She has also accused the PSOE of "hypocrisy" for now demanding equalization when "the differences" were established, she said, under socialist regional governments. However, she has admitted that "there are situations that need to be reviewed and corrected," although she has stressed that precisely for this reason a "sectoral negotiation" has already been convened, because "every public employee deserves their recognition."
Finally, the deputy of Unidas por Extremadura Juan Alessandro Schirinzi has denounced the "pauperized" conditions in which, according to him, many public employees in the region find themselves, and has considered it "evident" that the current Executive "is still not up to the task for all of them."
He has argued that the Board must negotiate the salary homologation of public staff and has reminded that it was the PSOE governments who set "the salary ranges and the conditions of public employees," a "gap" that, in his opinion, is now being "exploited" by the regional Government of PP and Vox.