Unions demand tighter security in Malaga job centres

The Comisiones Obreras (CC OO) trade union has called for "urgent" improvements to the security services in all offices of Spain's public employment service (SEPE) in Malaga.

The call comes after an incident on Friday 13 February at the Nerja office, located on Calle El Chaparil, where the "aggressive behaviour" of a user who turned up "without an appointment" led to staff calling the police to remove the person.

According to a statement issued by CC OO in Malaga, the union has been requesting the implementation of effective access to the facilities, especially for people who arrive without an appointment "for years". However, they complain that the authorities "turn a deaf ear" to their repeated requests and that no specific measures have been taken to reinforce security at the Malaga offices.

There are currently three offices in the province that lack security services and according to the union this creates a "comparative disadvantage" compared to other offices that do have security controls. Although the CC OO has not specified which centres these are, the Nerja office is one of those that has recently experienced incidents.

The union emphasises that the Andalusian regional government's work representative in Malaga is "aware" of this situation, in its capacity as the body responsible for employment centres and competent in the hiring of security personnel. "Hiring security services is urgent, as has been reiterated on many occasions, but no measures have been taken to date," say CC OO sources.

The union has highlighted the "obligation of organisations to guarantee the health and safety of their staff", especially after what happened in Nerja, an episode which, it says highlights the "vulnerability" faced on a daily basis by staff who deal with the public in employment offices.

Trade union sources have said that the Nerja office has reported "several incidents of violence" so far this year and insists that staff safety cannot depend on reactive measures after incidents, but rather on structural preventive measures.

The latest incident in Nerja thus reopens the debate on the protection of public employees in direct service roles, especially in a context of high administrative demand and social tension linked to benefits and employment procedures.