The alarming situation stems from the fact that the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Consells Comarcals (County Councils) continue to tender services without updating prices to reflect economic evolution, rising living costs, or the sector's actual needs. This closed-bid system acts as a hidden auction, rewarding the cheapest offer over quality, safety, or dignified working conditions.
This dynamic forces companies to operate on unsustainable margins, resulting in service degradation and poor labor conditions. Transport workers in Lleida face significant wage inequality, earning up to 400 euros less than their counterparts in Barcelona, Girona, or Tarragona.
This inequality is not the result of chance, but of institutional negligence that has turned Lleida into a laboratory of precariousness.
The text strongly criticizes this institutional negligence, stating that Lleida has become the “Cinderella of Catalunya” in this regard. There is an urgent demand to revise the tendering criteria, prioritizing service quality and professional dignity over cost. Furthermore, a local Lleida company, which almost exclusively serves the administration, is accused of “hijacking” the sector's collective agreement and preventing its signing.
