Palma Police unions intend staging a large protest against what they believe is the blocking of the new organisation plan that Mayor Jaime Martínez and the town hall had promised.
This is a matter that has caused concern among the police for several months. The plan, they understood, was due to have come into force on the first of January. There had been a protest prior to this, and there was a further small one directed at the mayor a few weeks ago.
The unions made clear they had lost all trust in the councillor with police responsibility, Mercedes Celeste. She was stripped of this responsibility towards the end of last month. The new councillor, Llorenç Bauzá, has now held talks with the unions and informed them that the plan, as had been proposed, was not viable and therefore not applicable.
Bauzá insists that the town hall is seeking a new framework and a new timetable for negotiations. "The unequivocal intention is to reach agreements." The unions have reacted with indignation and have announced a large protest demonstration for April 15.
The unions believe that this marks the end of the plan as it had originally been conceived and when it was an electoral promise by Martínez's Partido Popular. "Despite public promises, we have been told that the plan will not be implemented immediately because the head of human resources refuses to sign up to it. This constitutes a direct breach of the mayor's commitment. We are saying it loud and clear. We have already been deceived once, and we will not allow ourselves to be deceived a second time. The mayor's word is in question so long as a technical office is able to halt improvements that are deserved.
"We had planned a large demonstration for March 26. However, given the change in town hall functions, the unions have made a decision to grant the new officials a reasonable amount of time to demonstrate whether they are capable of resolving the situation and finding a real solution. This is not an indefinite truce. It is a pause to evaluate the new councillor's management skills. If there are no concrete actions, we will return to the streets with even greater force.
"Let no one be mistaken, we will not stop until we achieve a decent wage and equal working conditions, without unfair treatment."