Ten of the 15 seats reserved for the union representatives of the Mossos d’Esquadra remained empty yesterday afternoon in the extraordinary Police Council that late on Friday was called by the general director of the Police, Pere Ferrer, to try to contain union unrest.
The Police Union of Catalonia (SPC), Uspac, CAT, Mossos d’Esquadra Union, Segcat and the Intermediary Union signed and distributed a joint statement announcing the appointment of the Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena, and at the top of the Mossos in the meeting in the central complex of Egara in which they were going to present the decree of restructuring of the police which some articles in this daily advanced yesterday.
“It seems to us a lack of respect, not just for us, but for all the mossos, that they summon us to an extraordinary Police Council with these forms, without having any possibility of preparing such an important issue.” And they warn that the feeling is one of “irritation”, without ruling out mobilizations.
The council meeting was attended only by representatives of Fepol and Sicme, the majority union of managers, whose leaders already regretted the weekend that the immediate approval, this Tuesday, of the decree prevented them from making any type of contribution to the new structure . In fact, yesterday’s meeting was not intended as a Police Council format, but as an informative one, like the one held early in the afternoon with the commanders.
What happens is that on Friday afternoon, all the unions, including Fepol and Sicme, threatened not to attend if a council was not convened that would leave a written record of the interventions of the union representatives.
The rest of the unions chose not to attend the council either after remembering that they had been asking the leadership for information on the decree for months to participate and contribute to its preparation. “You cannot leave the progressive Department of the Interior, defenders of rights, and do it in this unilateral way, without taking into account the rest of the collective.” To add that “this is the worst Department of the Interior in history, the one that imposes the most and the one that negotiates the least.”
In the early afternoon, chief commissioner Eduard Sallent and commissioners Rosa Bosch and Emili Quevedo detailed the decree before the commanders. The event was closed by the general director Pere Ferrer with a: “Visca els Mossos!” which was not seconded, as detailed by more than a dozen attendees.
For her part, the PSC spokesperson, Elia Tortolero, demanded to stop the decree. “The dictatorial tone in the Interior is back,” said PSC-Units deputy Ramon Espadaler.
