The mobilizations, which took place this Wednesday, aim to denounce what they consider "labor discrimination." Demonstrators argue that, despite working in the same environments and having direct contact with inmates, their conditions are inferior to those of prison officials. In the Lleida prison, about thirty workers joined the protest.
During the concentration at the Ponent Penitentiary Center, participants displayed banners with messages such as 'CIRE is justice. Equalization now', '+ Security' and '+ Recognition'. In addition to economic improvements, one of the main demands is that they be recognized as agents of authority, a status that officials have had since last January.
“"We are asking for this because, in the end, an aggression cannot be valued one way for some and another for us."
A manifesto read during the protests criticized the "institutional abandonment" by the Department of Justice and demanded an end to the "discrimination." The document emphasizes that CIRE personnel have been "excluded" from the "improvements in their working, economic, and safety conditions following the agreement signed in 2024" that did benefit official personnel.
“"We work inside prisons, we assume the same risks and we sustain the same penitentiary system, but the administration has left us out of all improvements. This is intolerable discrimination."
Workers have also expressed their concern for safety, reporting that, two years after the murder of a cook at Mas d'Enric, there are still CIRE workspaces pending evaluation and adaptation in terms of security.
