The million-dollar amount the Government will spend on the construction of the UGT headquarters

The government led by Pedro Sánchez will spend more than 5.3 million euros (approximately 5.8 million dollars) on the rehabilitation of the headquarters of the UGT union. This is located at number 25 Avenida de América in Madrid. After several years of delays, the initial budget has increased significantly.

This is all due to the deterioration of the building over this time. This will force the Executive to disburse 20% more than originally planned for the project.

The responsibility for covering the cost of the renovations lies with the government, through the Ministry of Labor, and not the union. The building is part of the Accumulated Union Heritage (PSA). This set of properties, which includes more than 500 buildings seized after the Civil War from democratic union organizations, currently belongs to the State.

Although the properties are ceded to unions and business associations for the development of their legal functions, their maintenance is covered by the General Budgets.

In March 2022, the Ministry of Labor awarded a contract to the company Orthem Servicios y Actuaciones Ambientales. This was all to carry out works of "optimization and redistribution of spaces" at the mentioned headquarters. Initially, the value was close to 4.5 million euros (exactly 4,456,874.03 euros, approximately 4.9 million dollars).

When the bidding was announced, six months earlier, the Ministry of Labor declared the processing urgent. This was due to the "unpostponable need" to intervene in the building. According to Yolanda Díaz, this was because of the "inherent risk" it posed to the health of employees due to the age of the facilities.

On July 5, 2022, however, the work was suspended due to a lack of license. The work resumed on November 6, 2023, although the City Council imposed new conditions to grant the license.

This included the modification of the project following a report from the Technical Building Inspection (ITE). Because of this, the work had to be stopped again at the end of 2023 until the modified project was available.

The Disproportionate Amount of Public Money Given to UGT for Its N44 Congress

The Socialist Party of Barcelona, led by Lluïsa Moret Sabidó, has given 200,000 euros (approximately 218,000 dollars) to UGT. The representative of the Socialist Party of Catalonia allocated 200,000 euros to the union's N44 Congress.

This occurred in November of the past 2024.

The Congress, attended by Yolanda Díaz and Alberto Núñez Feijóo, was denounced by the Solidaridad union, the same one that exposed the amount of money allocated for the event.

The Solidaridad union has expressed its rejection of the recent decision by the Barcelona Provincial Council to allocate 200,000 euros to the UGT union. This money was exclusively intended for organizing its 44th Confederal Congress and 120,000 euros (approximately 131,000 dollars) to Foment del Treball for a business awards gala.

In a statement, Solidaridad has described these allocations as unjustifiable amid the current social and economic crisis. This crisis is exacerbated by the recent ravages of the DANA, which has left many families in vulnerable situations.