The CGT denounces the irregularities in the practices of the Institut de l’Ebre de Tortosa
The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) has had access to the report of the Labor Inspectorate (IT) which confirms the irregularities reported at the Institut de l’Ebre de Tortosa. According to the statement issued by the union, the report of the Labor Inspectorate declares the practice agreements invalid. It is concluded that the students have spent all their internships working exclusively at the educational center where they were enrolled, contravening the Vocational Training (FP) regulations (https://www.softcatala.org/resum-de-textos-en- Catalan/).
The students did not do the internship at the company Ebresoft Consulting SL
The report of the Labor Inspectorate states that the students never did the internship at the company Ebresoft Consulting SL and did not even know their company tutor. According to the CGT, the students were dedicated exclusively to the institute’s computer maintenance.
Lack of follow-up by the company and the center
The same report from the Labor Inspectorate ensures that the monitoring requirements have not been met either by the company or by the centre. The CGT union has interviewed former students of the Institut de l’Ebre’s computer science degrees who confirm that they have never had contact with the company and that it was the more veteran trainees who gave them instructions on how to do the job In addition, the former students claim that they worked at the institute for months without a contract or internship agreement, without being registered with Social Security (https://www.softcatala.org/resum-de-textos-en -Catalan/).
Remuneration of students
According to the report of the Labor Inspectorate, the students were remunerated by registered checks or bank transfers issued by the Institut de l’Ebre and the Ebresoft company. The checks paid by the institute were signed by the principal and the administrator of the center. On the other hand, the company issued payments to students that it did not know and, subsequently, billed the institute under the concept of maintenance tasks in order to recover the amounts issued by the company.
Abusive hours and difficulty in reconciling studies and internships
Ex-students report having suffered abusive schedules that exceeded the maximum time of eight hours per day between training and work, which made it difficult to reconcile studies and internships. Because of this, some students dropped out of their studies and looked for other job opportunities.
Actions of the Labor Inspection
The Labor Inspectorate has proceeded to deregister the students from the internship period at the company, registering them, at the same time, as workers on behalf of others in the educational center.
Claims of the CGT
The CGT demands the immediate termination of the management of the Institut de l’Ebre and the assumption of responsibilities by the educational administration for the poor supervision. In addition, it calls for a comprehensive improvement of Vocational Training (FP) and criticizes the precarious drift that the implementation of dual universal FP will entail (https://www.softcatala.org/resum-de-textos-en-catala/ ).
