Today Paula Ferrer, human resources councillor of the Consell de Formentera, has participated in a debate on the four-day work week organised by the Balearic chapter of the Unión General de Trabajadores in Palma.

In remarks, Ferrer stressed that union negotiations last February led to approval of a new working group "to study the progressive implementation of the four-day work week in the services in which it is feasible". The Consell de Formentera is the first public administration in the Balearic Islands that is negotiating its implementation at the trade union table.

Ferrer explained that the aim of this proposal "is to improve workers' quality of life without affecting the quality of service" and stressed that "public policies should focus on the increasingly palpable feeling that we should work to live, not live to work". By the councillor's lights, "the pandemic showed us that people's priority is time to enjoy family and friends. If we are happy, motivation increases, and with it, productivity".

Ferrer was joined at the debate by José Ramón Mateos, who is UGT Public Services' Pine Island representative on Formentera (the original proposal was submitted to the Consell de Formentera bargaining table by UGT). The event was also attended by the Balearic ministers Iago Negueruela and Mercedes Garrido, economist and labour law professor Adrián Todolí and prominent members of the union.

5 May 2023
Office of Communication
Consell de Formentera