They warn of the precarious situation of the employment sector of people with disabilities, as a result of the latest increases in the SMI and now aggravated by the economic crisis as a result of Covid 19.
They recall the Administration’s historical commitment to the Social Economy and request additional support to maintain employment and investment aid to EWCs for job creation.
The Social Economy is of great importance in Castilla y León. More than 4,000 entities, including cooperatives, worker-owned companies, special employment centers and insertion companies, generate more than 30,000 direct jobs and represent a turnover of more than 4,000 M€. According to data from the General Directorate of Social Economy and the Self-Employed of the Ministry of Employment of the JCyL, at the beginning of 2020 there were 313 CEE in the Community which employed 5,852 people with disabilities.
Fundación Personas, a reference entity in Castilla y León dedicated to the comprehensive care of people with intellectual disabilities throughout their life cycle, has six Special Employment Centers in the region. One of them, LINCE Group, is the largest in the region, with more than 700 employees, most of them PDCI. The other five are distributed among Valladolid, Segovia, Zamora, Palencia and Guardo with a total of 200 workers.
A few days ago took place the first telematic meeting of Fundación Personas with the new Director General of Social Economy and Self-Employment of the Ministry of Employment and Industry of the Junta de Castilla y León, Pablo Izquierdo Fernández. The purpose of this meeting was to to convey to the Board the concern that the social entity has for the viability of the EWCs, after the increases in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI) in recent years.
Angeles GarciaPresident of Fundación Personas, thanked the Director General for the speed with which the meeting had been scheduled and for his concern for the demands of the sector, inviting him to learn first-hand about the daily reality of the promotion of employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Precisely to address this reality, Jesús Mazariegos, general director of Fundación Personas, wanted to delve deeper into this reality by providing some data: “the employment situation of people with disabilities is precarious, not only because of the current health crisis, which has added up, but because of the general instability of the Special Employment Centers since the SMI increases in recent years. This has meant that the cost of human resources has increased by more than 40% in the last 4 years. In spite of aids and subsidies, not being able to pass on this increase in the price of products and services, it becomes a complicated situation to maintain and many jobs of people with disabilities are at risk .”
As a consequence of this scenario, Mazariegos warns “that without additional aid, many Special Employment Centers will end up ceasing their activity due to lack of viability”.
For his part, Juan Pablo Izquierdo Fernández, also expressed his concern about the difficult exit of the Special Employment Centers: “We are going to have to be very ingenious when looking for solutions and aid to try to stop the damage we are suffering. We all have to pull together and see how we can help”.
During the meeting, Jesús Mazariegos also wanted to share the approach that Fundación Personas takes to help the sectors with the most difficulties in terms of employability in the current context of uncertainty. In this sense, the general manager of the entity recalled that after the 2008 crisis, the way to support social initiative EWCs was with the additional 25% salary support for a year and a half. Moreover, with the increases in the SMI, starting in 2013, the State accompanied that measure with an additional 5%. “Undoubtedly this helped and saved the sector. But now it is not happening” – regrets Mazariegos. “Creating a job for people with disabilities has cost a lot of effort and a lot of money. If now we have to cease the activity we are at risk of losing all the work done for years by the Administration and our social organizations.”
That is why they propose as necessary to resume, the first line of measures and support to the business field agreed last March by the Economic and Social Council of Castilla y León (CES) claiming that the social economy and special employment centers enter the distribution of funds in an equal and agile way. Before these requests, the new director of Social Economy and Self-Employed wanted to reiterate his support to defend the sector to the maximum and to help it get through this difficult time.. In addition, Izquierdo Fernández did not want to close the meeting without conveying the sensitivity of the Councilor for Employment and Industry, Carlota Amigo, for the group of people with disabilities.
About Fundación Personas
Fundación Personas was created in 2008 by five associations in Castilla y León: ADECAS Guardo, ASPANIS Palencia, APADEFIM Segovia, ASPRONA Valladolid and ASPROSUB Zamora. Our mission is to improve the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities and their families by providing comprehensive services, in the environment and covering all stages of the life cycle. The founding associations belong to the Plena Inclusion family movement and bring 60 years of experience, share innovation and foster mutual collaboration.
With a regional presence, we are present in 30 towns in Castilla y León, urban centers and rural areas, where we attend to situations of disability or dependence and provide support for the promotion of personal autonomy. We also offer support and training to people at risk of social exclusion. Our activity is governed by criteria of quality and proximity in service; efficiency and transparency in management; equal opportunities, accessibility and respect for diversity as a driver of social transformation.
In the educational-care area, we manage 2,500 places daily in 60 centers, distributed in more than 30 locations in Valladolid, Palencia, Segovia and Zamora. In the labor area, Fundación Personas has 3 Special Employment Centers (CEE) – Grupo Lince S.L.U., APADEFIM 2000 S.L.U. and CEE Fundación Personas – with a staff of 900 workers, more than 90% of whom have some kind of disability.
FOUNDATION PEOPLE IN FIGURES:
- 2500 people served
- 3000 families
- 60 operational work centers
- 30 locations
- 5 Delegations
- 6 Special Employment Centers
- 1800 professionals
- 850 workers with disabilities
- 939 total workforce
