Balearics welcome 154 new National Police officers

JOAN Mesquida, the director general of the Police and the Guardia Civil, yesterday presided the incorporation of 154 new police officers, which he described as “the biggest increase in numbers sent to the Balearics in a single promotion.” He pointed out that in the past two and a half years, the number of officers has increased by 317 and there are now 1'342 National Police officers in the Balearics. The presentation took place on the explanade of the Paseo Marítimo, where a small group of representatives of the police trade union protested at the lack of progress in wage negotiations with the central government. Mesquida later expressed his “wish to talk” to resolve the dispute with the police unions. The unions have accused the Spanish Government of failing to comply with the agreement signed between them in 2005. It was in this agreement that the Government promised to bring police pay into line with the pay of other security forces, such as the Ertzaintza (the Basque region security force). Mesquida was accompanied by the Spanish Government's Representative in the Balearics, Ramon Socias.
Mesquida said that the agreement signed by the unions in 2005 “planned percentage increases which in some cases doubled the pay of other public servants” and which, according to him, “has been done”. “The 2005 agreement was highly rated because it gave a big rise in salaries which cost around 400 million euros”, Mesquida stressed.