Pedro Sánchez stresses that with the agreement to improve public employment conditions "public servants and citizens win"

Headquarters of the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service, Madrid

Pool Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The head of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, closed the signing ceremony between the Minister for Digital Transformation and Civil Service, Óscar López, and trade union representatives on the agreement reached to improve the salary and working conditions of public employees, in which he stressed that the signing of the agreement marks "a decisive step towards a more contemporary model of public employment, more up-to-date with the demands and requirements of Spanish society in the 21st century, fairer and better prepared to respond to the challenges facing our society in the present and in the future."

Improving public services, working conditions and modernising the administration

The President of the Government of Spain explained that the agreement entails three major objectives, such as improving the services offered by public administrations and the working conditions of public servants, with a salary increase of 11% until 2028, which "gives guarantees, stability and predictability to the work of civil servants", and on key issues such as professional stability, career development and excellence in training. The third objective of the agreement is to "courageously tackle the modernisation of the administration, with the help of new technologies which are already having an impact and which represent an extraordinary opportunity to improve the efficiency of our administration".

Social dialogue and "extraordinary" professionalism of public servants

Pool Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

Pedro Sánchez highlighted the fact that the improvement has been achieved "together, through social dialogue, the best tool for moving forwards and building solid agreements that legitimise government action and trade union action, which guarantees stability and the ability to look to the long term by thinking about the challenges and opportunities offered by technological change" and "which forges consensus that allows people's lives to be improved". In this respect, he pointed out that the coalition government's roadmap always focuses on the search for a good agreement for public servants, citizens and "fully aligned" with the European project.

Similarly, he praised the "commendable and extraordinary" commitment and professionalism of public servants, thanks to whom "Spain works every day: in health centres, in classrooms, in public safety, in justice, in social protection and in so many other essential areas, such as the response to the emergency we experienced last summer thanks to the commitment and professionalism of the public sector, which is commendable and extraordinary." "Their work is decisive in sustaining collective well-being and the strength of our democracy," he added, which is why he warned of the danger of choosing "the opposite path of precariousness and cuts."

He called for "learning from the experience of the pandemic or the response to extreme weather events, which are becoming more frequent due to the climate emergency, such as the one that devastated Valencia and other areas". "It is important that we are all clear about this: strengthening the conditions of those who work in public employment means strengthening our Welfare State and guaranteeing rights, security and freedoms for citizens," he added.

The president of the Government of Spain emphasised that, with the agreement signed today, the service vocation of public administration workers who "serve all Spaniards" is recognised. "With this agreement, workers win, public servants win and citizens win. This is great news for our country," he concluded.

Óscar López values the agreement for "a pioneering and ambitious roadmap"

Pool Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

For his part, the Minister for Digital Transformation and Civil Service, Óscar López, said that "today is a good day for Spain, because our country cannot be explained without our welfare state, which is made up of more than three million public employees who today see their work recognised."

After thanking the trade unions for their "political stature" in the negotiations, he remarked that a "pioneering and ambitious roadmap" had been achieved for the next four years, which will improve the working conditions of public employees, modernise the civil service and strengthen the public services that citizens receive.

Non official translation