The Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC) municipal group has filed an administrative appeal against the Figueres council plenary agreement extending the equality plan for council staff until 2027. If the agreement remains in force, municipal employees will continue to be covered by the existing plan while the appeal is considered.

The group is seeking annulment of the decision and an urgent meeting of the Mesa General de Negociació, the council's general negotiating forum with staff representatives. It says a new plan should be prepared using current data and agreed with the unions.

PSC cites outdated workforce information

According to the PSC, the council extended a plan that had already expired without beginning a new negotiation process or producing an updated assessment of the workforce.

  • The municipal file itself, the PSC says, acknowledges that the available information is out of date.
  • It points to staff stabilisation processes affecting more than 100 posts.
  • It also cites generational change among Figueres council employees.

The party says the extension may breach Organic Law 3/2007 on the effective equality of women and men and the Basic Statute of Public Employees, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015.

An equality guidance page on public administrations identifies both laws as applying to equality plans for public-sector staff. It states that public bodies must have equality plans for their employees and that measures to prevent sexual harassment and sex-based harassment must be negotiated with workforce representatives.

Union representatives left the negotiating forum

The PSC says union representatives left the Mesa General de Negociació on 16 June in protest at the proposed handling of the extension. The party argues that the plan should be negotiated and reviewed at the start of each council term using updated information.

“Equality is a right and a legal obligation, not a procedural formality,” the PSC municipal group said.

The appeal does not itself determine whether the plenary agreement is lawful. The PSC's allegations will depend on the outcome of the administrative process and on any response by Figueres council.

Figueres residents seeking information on the council's equality services, including the women's information and support service, can consult the Ajuntament de Figueres equality and feminism page.

Reported by iserveis.cat, figueres.cat, horanova.cat, TypoEdition, extension.uned.es, Redacció, Javi Martín, L'Empordà.