The City Council of Madrid dismissed 111 educators from Municipal Social Service Centers this May, disrupting a multitude of programs and intervention work in general with families, young people, etc.
After the time of economic booms, our Pharaonic mayor, after putting the City Council into millions of euros of debt, does not hesitate for a moment to get out the scissors and cut everything related to social policies, leaving 111 unemployed workers – social education workers. Half of the intervention projects and programs for exluded people or those at risk of social exclusion have been affected and the participants in these programs, in addition to the workers, have had the few hopes they may have had to build a decent life eliminated. Apart from lowering the level of care for the indigent, battered women and children, grants will be cut for meals and other social services, with the expection of Samur SOCIAL* and benefits for seniors.
(* Translator’s note: a program which deals with social emergency cases.)
The Social Intervention Workers of the CNT are totally against budget cuts to social services and their privatization, against the dismissal of workers – social educators and the suspension of social intervention programs for people at serious risk of exclusion. We support the struggle of workers and encourage them to organize around the CNT, a union which does not receive subsidies or have professional unionists*, maintaining its independence from state and political organizations.
(* Translator’s note: the original refers to «liberados» – those unionists who are freed from their work obligations on the job)
Our proposal for effective and quality social services, managed transparently are:
• Employment stability. There are many unlawful contracts. We demand that indefinite contracts become the norm rather than the exception.
• Respect for union freedom in its broadest meaning. It is common in this sector, that when you mention any labour rights, you are ignored, dismissed or your contract is not renewed.
• An end to emotional blackmail. It is common that the employers make excuses when workers claim their rights or ask for improvements, claiming that if these were implemented, it would lead to poorer services and lower the quality of services the recipients get. In reality, it only means lower profits for them.
• Implementation of s collective contract. It is common practice to use others from outside the sector, such as office or hotel workers, simply because they are precarious and profitable. This is illegal.
• Appropriate professional categories. Often the job category in the labor contract is different than in reality in order to pay lower wages.
• Reality of working hours. In this sector, part-time contracts abound. In many cases they do not include the actual hours worked but only the activity with the recipients (eg the working hours don’t include planning meetings, work that has to be done at home, purchasing material).
• Freedom of conscience. We are not preachers, but we want to suggest ways for integral development (social, emotional, cognitive, cultural …) of the subject. Encouraging everyone to be autonomous and responsible for their ideas and acts … so that they do not adversely affect the rest.
• Transparency and clarity in the accounts and management. Most of the companies are funded by state subsidies and private grants. It is essential that we gain access to the accounts so we know where the money goes.
• Increased wages and social benefits. We demand more pay and perception of social rights in pursuit of a better quality of life.
• No disintegration of the sector. Disintegration involves the creation of various sectors with different conventions and regulations, which involves the division of workers and the consequent loss of the ability to fight.
Since CNT believes that the main problem that leads people to social exclusion is the same capitalist economic system that creates inequality among them, having people with high income who live off the labor of workers, exploited people receiving starvation wages that are nowhere near to the profits they produce with their own hands. Our aim therefore is to reorganize society and the economic system, solving the problems of the working class by organizing and using direct action, working horizontally without intermediaries, where the workers solve the problems directly with the employer.
Sección de Intervención Social,
Sección Sindical del Samur SOCIAL
Sindicato de Enseñanza e Intervención Social de Madrid
ensemad[arroba]cnt.es
samursocial[arroba]madrid.cnt.es
samursocial.cnt[arroba]grupo5.net
