The ratification of the point, included in the plenary session corresponding to January, marks the culmination of a five-year “union struggle,” according to representatives of the caregiver collective. They positively value the “recovery” of the service by the Alt Urgell Regional Council, prioritizing self-management after years of outsourcing and subcontracting.
The Home Care Service is responsible for providing care at home to people with a high degree of dependency, being a highly feminized service threatened by privatization policies.
The regional body had already approved the modification of the statutes of the Societat Comarcal Iniciatives Alt Urgell (IAUSA) in the last November plenary session so that it could assume the SAD, along with the staff of ten people. The measure went ahead with the votes of Junts, ERC, and the CUP, while Compromís-CP abstained, after the previous managing company, Sumar, resigned from providing the service.
The Council President, Josefina Lladós, and spokespersons Carme Lostao (ERC) and Gisela Sellés (CUP) agreed that, given the problems with previous service concessions, it was time to opt for a fully public and local company, hoping it would become a model for other regions.
Despite the commitment to self-management, Lladós warned that the service is conditioned by underfunding, as the Generalitat has not updated the Social Services Program Contract. This forces the current contract to be extended without increasing transferred resources, a situation also jointly denounced by all regional councils of the Alt Pirineu.
