Unions appeal to the Supreme Court against the academic requirements to stabilise 14 posts in the EFE Agency
The EFE Agency’s intercentre committee has appealed to the Supreme Court against the ruling handed down by the National High Court in which it dismissed the unions’ lawsuit against the selection process determined by the company to stabilise 14 job positions, as reported by DIRCOMFIDENCIAL.
The workers’ representatives denounce the fact that the candidates are required to have a university degree and, for some positions, a master’s degree and a language level of B2. Conditions which, according to the intercentre committee and contrary to the interpretation of the National Court, do not comply with the Collective Agreement, as this document also includes Vocational Training (VET) in academic qualifications and does not include specific language requirements.
Although the stabilisation of jobs has been one of the major stumbling blocks for the EFE Agency internally for years, it is only in recent months that it has become a higher priority. Specifically, since the entry into force of Law 20/2021, which regulates urgent measures to reduce the temporary nature of public employment.
The vacancies offered are currently occupied by non-regular employees, some of whom now see their jobs endangered after years of association with EFE.
In accordance with this law, the news agency offered 14 positions currently occupied by non-regular employees. The latter took up their posts in a situation described by the unions as irregular – for example, as collaborators – and after legal action, the courts recognised their status as permanent employees.
The 14 employees are obliged to pass this open selection process in order to keep their jobs, which are then converted into permanent employment. However, some of them are in danger of losing their jobs, as they do not have a university degree, despite the fact that in the merits section – experience in the position offered – they have an advantageous situation. In fact, many of them have more than 20 years of experience in the agency and have received outstanding professional recognition, according to staff sources.
The intercentre committee denounces the fact that the terms of the call for applications demand these requirements as “eliminatory, and not as a merit to be valued”, while EFE argues that “we are not dealing with a generic interest of a group of workers but with the individualised interest of the group of people who occupy the positions offered and what is being attempted is to adapt the call for applications to their characteristics and training”, as stated in the ruling of the National Court of Appeals.
The posts offered are: 1 section head, 1 camera operator, 2 graphic editors, 2 editors, 4 administration technicians, 1 administration technician in the Purchasing area and 3 commercial technicians.
Rejuvenating the workforce
For years, the sustainability of the workforce has been one of the colossal challenges facing the EFE news agency. In addition to the stabilisation of jobs, the rejuvenation of the newsroom is one of the main aims of its president Gabriela Cañas.
On this last challenge, the agency is beginning to see the light after the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI) approved a few weeks ago a programme of subsidised early retirements – with a maximum of 50,000 euros – and forced retirements that will open the door to the hiring of younger professionals, as Voz Pópuli advanced.
