The deputy of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) explained that, upon completion of the debt adjustment plan before federal judge Laura Taylor, they will expand the benefits of Law 9-2021 to allow collective agreements to negotiate economic clauses.
“Once the approval process for the debt adjustment plan has been completed, the government has no excuses to start evaluating the availability of funds and resources to improve the salaries of public employees,” he assured at a press conference accompanied by his co-religionists. Domingo Torres García, Estrella Martínez and Eladio Cardona.
The initiative is announced at a time when teachers, firefighters, health and emergency workers, among others, have begun to demand fair wages and decent retirement on the street, as will happen again this coming Wednesday.
“The economic crisis facing our public servants has become unsustainable, and to the extent that salary increases and fringe benefits continue to be delayed for our officials who provide essential services, we will have fewer professionals in the country,” Hernández said.
Deputy Domingo Torres, chairman of the Labor Affairs Committee, highlighted that the initiative orders the Government of Puerto Rico’s Human Resources Administration and Transformation Office to immediately publish the Uniform Compensation and Reclassification Plan for Puerto Rico Public Employees. the Executive Branch.
In addition, he noted, we are amending Law 9-2021, known as the Law to Guarantee Collective Bargaining, in order to allow collective agreements to negotiate economic clauses with their respective appointing authority.
Torres acknowledged that for decades public employees have seen their fringe benefits diminish, including their days off with pay, while their salaries are frozen and inflation continues to rise.
Likewise, he admitted that workers in general, and in the public service in particular, have been required to bear the greatest weight of the austerity measures and fiscal rigor that this Caribbean island is going through, under colonial rule. of the United States for 123 years.
The legislators recalled that, according to the current state of law, on July 1, 2021, public employees would wake up without a collective agreement for the first time in 20 years, which is why Law 9-2021 was approved to protect their rights.
Now, they indicated, given that the Debt Adjustment Plan has been finalized, which reduces obligations with creditors and, consequently, the government will have economic resources to assert rights and to ensure salary justice for officials .
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