When the socialists were in power, the opposition party in Bigastro claimed that the council workforce needed to be reduced by half. Once they got into power, in a coalition with the liberals, the conservative PP went ahead and made the promised cuts. The move was never going to be popular but it was deemed necessary given the disastrous state of finances in the town.
The dismissed workers took their case to court and won compensation amounting to 340,000 euros. Although hat sounds like a huge sum of money, it has to be compared to the year on year savings made by losing 50 staff.
In last year’s budget, 140,000 was set aside for payment of the debt. The rest will be coming from the 2014 budget. That means the council workers will now all have been paid.
Of course, the situation in the council changed when the mayor expelled the two liberal councillors from the government team. She now relies upon support from the socialist group to approve any measures taken and they have already refused to agree to dismissals and the strategy of staff cuts.
PS In case you were wondering what Aurelio Murcia is doing these days following his dismissal, I can confirm that he is working as a driving instructorand I understand he is also dabbling in real estate. It’s a far cry from his previous situations but at least it should keep the wolf from his door.
PPS I hope he teaches his pupils how to use the signals on the car because most Spaniards on the road don’t seem to know what they are for!!
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