Unions ask for guarantees regarding the future transformation of INAEM

UGT, CSIF, CCOO have asked for guarantees regarding the transformation process of the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM), after the meeting held with the Ministry of Culture in which the business organizations indicated that they have considered configuring the institution as a Public Business Entity (EPE), maintaining its public nature but with greater management autonomy.

According to union sources, on February 20, the Secretary of State for CultureJordi Martiinformed them of the new proposal and He assured them that “there will be no privatization.” In this sense, they point out that Culture’s intention is to replicate the model of institutions such as the Agency of Cultural Institutions of Andalusia (Junta de Andalucía) or the Institute of Culture of Barcelona ICUB (Department of Culture of Barcelona).

From UGT they admit that the EPE proposal is a “possibility” and ask for a guarantee that the workers will be public employees and CSIF values ​​the Ministry’s will in a “positive way.” However, CCOO rejects the proposal because ““business logic is not compatible with the role of INAEM as a public cultural organization.”

According to UGT sources told Europa Press, the current INAEM model “no longer works.” “The model that this same Government proposed two or three years ago of creating foundations based on INAEM was not viable either. This is another possibility. What we want is the guarantee of being public employees, that there is no outsourcing or privatization of services“, they say.

For their part, CSIF sources evaluate the “will” of the Ministry “positively” but warn that its final position “will depend on guarantees” that it will be supported by the Ministry of Finance and guarantees of stability and quality in employment.

Thus, from UGT they explain that the Administration “agrees”, but remember that it is only “the first step.” Furthermore, he specified that although it is “verbal” information that has been given from the department headed by Ernest Urtasun, there have been previous meetings, according to the INAEM, with the Treasury and Public Service.

“We are cautious. We’re not going to go crazy. We are pessimistic that this will go ahead. But because of the times, not because of anything else“adds UGT. The same is the opinion of CSIF, which is “prudent” due to the current situation in the current legislature.

For its part, CCOO considers the EPE “inadequate” to provide a solution to the structural problems of the INAEM because “the business logic is not compatible with the role of the INAEM as a public cultural organization” and assures that this legal figure was already discarded in a 2018 INAEM working group report (created as a result of the attempt to transform the Teatro de la Zarzuela into a Foundation).

“The current problems of INAEM do not derive from its legal form, but from the lack of regulations adapted to the special characteristics of the organization. and, above all, a structural budget insufficiency. The requirement for an immediate position reduces the strength of collective bargaining and limits real and effective participation of the representation of workers,” CCOO states in a statement.