Volunteer firefighters from Catalonia on the warpath: 1,300 brigade members will not work in summer

• The fire in Portbou (Girona) continues uncontrolled and forces the eviction of 140 people

The fires are already here, and the volunteer firefighters of Catalonia are very unhappy with what they charge to fight the flames. “They pay us 4,000 euros a year and, when we have to make the income statement, we have to pay almost that same 4,000 euros in taxes,” says Manel Llano, head of the Sant Joan de Vilamajor (Barcelona) volunteer fire station and member of the Council of Volunteer Firefighters of Catalonia. The situation has reached a critical point.

The volunteer firefighters of Catalonia are a body made up of people with other professions who dedicate their free time to this work in a semi-altruistic way (10 euros per hour in 2022).. They carry out very similar tasks as official firefighters, have similar training in some cases and have the same material and equipment.. To access the body, requirements and tests must be met. However, the physical and knowledge exams are less demanding than the oppositions, because you can be a volunteer firefighter until you reach retirement age (65 years)..

The brigade members of the Girona region have already announced that they will not be available for any type of service until their claims are taken into account.. Other parks such as Benifallet (Tarragona) have joined this action. This strike, which comes in the midst of a wave of fires in Catalonia, will affect 1,300 volunteer firefighters. The casualties will be covered by civil servant firefighters and brigade members from other volunteer parks in the territory.

Volunteer firefighters do not have an employment contract and their services to stop forest fires are paid poorly and through a payment that is made without any tax withholding. “We have a job and a payroll where the income tax that corresponds to us is withheld, however, when we add the payment for volunteering to our income statement, we get paid and, if we speak only in economic terms, we hardly get account the long days in front of the flames”, says Manel Llano.

The Generalitat cannot offer this group an employment contract, since the regulations prohibit people from being hired without an opposition to carry out the same work that an official does. Faced with this impossibility, the Council of Volunteer Firefighters of Catalonia asks the Department of the Interior to “at least exempt us from paying the regional section in the income statement, which is the one in the hands of the Generalitat,” Llano argues..

In Catalonia, personal income tax is 18.8% from an annual income of 33,000 euros, which means paying around 5,000 euros. Of this figure, approximately half corresponds to the autonomous section, which is the part that the volunteer firefighters claim not to pay.

Disagreements within the fire department

In Catalonia, there are currently 1,800 volunteer firefighters spread over 74 parks, whose main mission is to deal with the summer fire season. However, the group is divided. Although the official representation falls on the Council of Volunteer Firefighters, two groups have appeared that are much more belligerent with the labor rights of volunteers.. For the Association of Volunteer Firefighters of Catalonia (ASBAVOCA) and the Federation of Volunteer Firefighters of Catalonia (FBVCat), the solution is to get the Generalitat to sign an employment contract, which would allow them to access the Social Security regime and the rest of privileges of officials.

The Catalan Administration defends that “the mixed model has worked excellently for decades” and accuses these two associations of wanting to blow it up. “Ending volunteerism is synonymous with weakening our fire department,” says a spokesman for the Department of the Interior. Many of the people who currently work as volunteer firefighters would not pass the physical tests and, therefore, would not be able to continue exercising with the functions they currently carry out..

In the last week, FVBCat has issued a letter requesting a vote among all volunteer firefighters to learn about their concerns first hand and without intermediaries. In this same letter, the federation assures that its interests are not always represented by the Council of Volunteer Firefighters and asks that they be allowed to participate in its meetings..

Insurance with less coverage against fire

Where it does seem that the three groups that represent the volunteer firefighters agree is in requesting greater coverage in the medical insurance paid by the Generalitat.

According to the Administration, this policy is the highest paid by the Generalitat. In the event of having to request sick leave from work due to an accident caused during their service, the volunteer has a daily compensation of 60 euros per day, 1,800 per month, but this compensation is only maintained during the first year of leave. In the event that the leave lasts longer, there is no coverage. “We are working to extend the compensation of volunteers,” they point out from Interior.

The Council of Volunteer Firefighters maintains that the Catalan Administration should face the payment of casualties of more than one annuity and that the differences between them and civil servant firefighters are evident. “If you have an accident, you are only covered for the first visit to the Asepeyo mutual, which covers trauma, but, in case you need a visit with a specialist, volunteer firefighters are forced to wait to be treated by Social Security like any other another citizen, regardless of whether it occurred during an act of service”, says Manel Llano.

The proposal of the Generalitat

In recent months of talks, including strike threats, the Department of the Interior has made clear its intention to improve the current model. Within these improvements to consolidate the mixed model, the Generalitat proposes to improve economic benefits, make training more efficient and ensure a minimum of two vehicles per volunteer fire station, among other things.

According to the Department of the Interior, they speak of a single fire department, “we do not make distinctions between officials and volunteers, both have the same importance”. However, in its idea of improving the mixed model, the Generalitat defends keeping volunteers without a work contract and without registration with Social Security.

From the Council of Volunteer Firefighters they disagree on the treatment they receive from the Administration and on the presumed equality that the Generalitat defends. “It is not true that we have the same authority as the official firefighters, since, according to the law, we cannot cut roads or stop a car,” says Llano..