Spain: 80,000 Police Officers Take to Streets to Protest Low Salaries
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – At least 80,000 Spanish police officers took part in a protest against security policies pursued by Pedro Sanchez’s government, in downtown Madrid on Saturday.
Organizers of the protest, representing officers from the National Police (Policia Nacional), Civil Guard (Guardia Civil), and prison guards, stressed that the demonstration was organized because of the differences between the salaries of local law enforcement and federal law enforcement.
Demonstrators brought banners stating: “Stop discriminating against us!”, “Justice for all!”, “Decent salaries and pensions!” and others.
Protesters also chanted slogans such as: “Fair wages” and “We fight for our rights”
The head of the police syndicate Jusapol, which co-organized the march, Miguel Gomez, told the media present at the protest that the discrepancies in the salaries of officers subordinate to the government and regional police formations harm state security and bring a bad atmosphere to the services.
“Police officers in regional formations can retire as early as 59, while we can only retire six years later, losing additionally more than EUR 1,000 a month,” Gomez said, TVP World reported.
Other union representatives present at the march stressed that the difference in salaries is due to local law enforcement’s professional activity being recognized by autonomous communities as hazardous work.
