The Jupol union has spoken out against the terrible and unsustainable situation that many National Police officers in the province of Alicante are in since they haven’t been paid their travel and official duty allowances since May of last year. In a news release, the union says that the problem has become chronic and is hurting officers from different departments and operational units.
Jupol says that these are not isolated cases, but a problem that affects whole work groups in the province. Police officers have debts ranging from 15 to 30 allowances, which means that many of them owe between 800 and 900 euros, like the officers in the Prevention and Reaction Unit (UPR).
Jupol says that the complaints this union has gotten involve different units in the province of Alicante, such as the Judicial Police, UDEF (Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit), UDYCO (Drug and Organised Crime Unit), GRECO (Organised Crime Response Group), and the Prevention and Reaction Unit (UPR). The union says that each officer in the province’s Judicial Police units is owed between 15 and 20 per diem payments, which affects whole teams. In UDEF, each group of about 12 officers owes about 15 per diem payments. Some cops in UDYCO and GRECO, two important groups in the fight against drug trafficking, are owed up to 30 per diem payments. The average sum owed in the UPR is between 800 and 900 euros per officer. This includes services that were provided in July of last year but have not yet been paid for.
A bad scenario
Jupol thinks it’s especially bad because, even while this is going on, National Police officers in the province of Alicante still have to travel and do new jobs without getting the money they should have earned for over a year. The union said, “This practice makes officers pay out of their own pockets to do their jobs, which is completely unacceptable.”
Jupol says that the situation gets worse when police officers who have been promoted or transferred and are no longer assigned to these units still don’t get allowances or reimbursements for expenses related to services and courses they took while they were in them, even though a lot of time has passed.
Jupol says that this is what national police officers in the province of Alicante have to deal with every day: “While the Ministry of the Interior talks tough about organised crime and drug trafficking, the units that fight these threats are left without money, which makes their work less effective.”
Jupol says it will bring these unpaid bills up at the next provincial commission and in the appropriate representative bodies. However, the union warns that the explanations given so far by the Administration are not enough and are just repeating themselves, since there have been no real solutions in over a year.
So, Jupol wants the National Police officers in the province of Alicante to get all of their unpaid allowances right away, and they want the General Directorate of the Police and the Ministry of the Interior to give a clear and public explanation. They also want urgent steps to be taken to make sure that these non-payments don’t happen again.National police officers in Alicante can no longer pay for the public security service with their own money. Their work can’t put a strain on their own finances. The union said, “The situation is critical and needs an immediate response.”
More news about this
Jupol also says that this is an important time because negotiations are about to start in the civil service to revise allowances, which haven’t been looked at in over 20 years. Royal Decree 2002, which governs them, hasn’t altered since 2005, even though the cost of living, housing, and food has gone up a lot. CSIF will represent Jupol in these talks, and they will struggle to make sure that allowances are eventually updated and that acceptable amounts are guaranteed, in line with the current economic situation and the work that National Police personnel do when they are on official duty.
Author: Derek Appleton
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