The Judge Dismisses the Generalitat's Lawsuit Against Marina Salud's Labor Agreement

The news that the Marina Salud works council, unions, and workers at Dénia Hospital had been eagerly awaiting has finally arrived, albeit five months after the trial. The judge has dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Generalitat's Legal Department and the conselleria against the labor agreement signed by the former concessionaire of the Dénia Health Department and the workers. The ruling considers that implementing the conditions agreed upon in 2022 is not detrimental to the regional coffers, as argued by the Consell.

The decision to take the labor agreement to court had stalled the implementation of improvements that had been reached, causing significant discontent among the staff. This discontent grew since February 1st when reversion became effective, as public management returned to the department, leading to a coexistence between concessionaire staff and conselleria staff with different conditions and remunerations.

The president of Marina Salud's works council, Joan Sarrió, stated after learning about the dismissal that he hopes the conselleria will now agree to meet to work on equalizing conditions between the former concessionaire's staff and conselleria staff. "We understand that after this ruling we must sit down to negotiate," he emphasized.

In this regard, he highlighted the importance of taking this step urgently so that improvements can be included in the Generalitat Valenciana's budget for 2025.

Although the ruling is not yet final, he trusts that, as Sanidad assured them some time ago, it will not be appealed. "This is good news for workers, and we are happy because it has been a hard-fought battle," Sarrió stressed.

Regarding this matter, the works council president emphasized that the second labor agreement, signed two years ago with the then concessionaire, is not harmful to conselleria funds and should be implemented. Furthermore, it should serve as a basis for a third agreement, which would be signed with Sanidad and should ensure equal conditions with conselleria staff. According to him, "so far, reversion is not complete; it has only affected structure but not staff."

On this point, Joan Sarrió noted that Sanidad must understand there are no reasons for such "disparate" differences in aspects like salaries and working hours. This translates into about 130 more working hours per year and salary differences of up to €7,000 annually in certain ranks. Therefore, he urged action; otherwise, "people will leave."

UGT has expressed joy over the dismissal of the lawsuit. They stated, "the judge has ruled in our favor." They also hope that the ruling will not be appealed because "if this drags on, many people from Dénia Hospital will leave."

Union sources believe that the second collective agreement should come into effect shortly. They also emphasized that conselleria should start negotiating a third labor agreement. "When we sit down, UGT will demand equal conditions with conselleria staff."

Comisiones Obreras also agrees on these points. This union indicated they are waiting for conselleria to set a meeting date. "We want to negotiate as soon as possible before budgets are finalized," they added from CCOO.

For now, the union wants the regional government not to appeal since during April's trial "they did not present any report supporting their argument that the agreement caused economic harm." Therefore, they hope soon to implement what was agreed upon with the previous concessionaire since it was "the second agreement signed in 14 years." According to CCOO officials, improvements are modest but at least something while waiting for all workers' conditions to be homogenized. The ultimate goal is this equalization because "so far we've been in limbo and people were getting tired and leaving," concluded union representatives.