The Generalitat, the trade unions, and the biomedical foundations of the Valencian Community formalize the agreement at the Palau de la Generalitat.
Carlos Mazón highlights that the agreement “is not the goal” but rather “the foundation for the stability, dignity, and legal and labor recognition of research staff.”
The Generalitat, the trade unions, and the biomedical foundations of the Valencian Community (INCLIVA, the La Fe Health Research Institute, Fisabio, and Isabial) signed this morning at the Palau de la Generalitat the Collective Agreement of the Biomedical Research Foundations of the Valencian Community. The agreement aims to stabilize the employment situation of research staff on the basis of a stable and homogeneous legal framework, and to attract and retain talent..
The president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, highlighted that with the signing of the Collective Agreement of the Biomedical Research Foundations, “we are advancing in our commitment to retain and attract research talent to the Valencian Community.”
He stated that this agreement “is not the finish line, but the foundation for stability, dignity, and the legal and labor recognition of research staff,” and that it represents “a message of hope” for a sector that is essential to the future of the Valencian Community.
Mazón highlighted the importance of signing this agreement “despite being the most underfunded autonomous community.” For the head of the Consell, investment in research is not only a public demand but also part of a broader effort: “we are working to build an ecosystem, free from ideological bias, that brings together all available resources, both public and private.”
Carlos Mazón thanked the researchers for their vocation for public service and their willingness, reiterating that “research deserves every possible resource.”
Collective Agreement of the Biomedical Research Foundations
Together with Decree-Law 3/2024, approved on 20 March as a pioneering measure and establishing an equivalence between the professional categories of statutory staff and those of research personnel, this agreement is created with a dual objective: to dignify the research staff of the Generalitat’s instrumental public sector and to establish a new, reliable, and consistent legal framework—free of asymmetries and inequalities—for a sector that is essential to the future of the Valencian Community.
This agreement, the second of its kind to be signed in Spain, inclusively regulates the classification and structure of professional groups, categories, and areas, as well as explicitly defining their occupational health and safety conditions.
It also standardizes working hours, leave, licenses, unpaid leave, and the remuneration system, introducing improvements in each of these areas to dignify the profession and facilitate a better balance between work and personal life.
The agreement also establishes the commitment to negotiate a model for recognizing and implementing seniority, career progression, and professional development—measures set out in the Decree-Law—for all research staff within the first three months after it enters into force.
The context governing the employment conditions set out in this collective agreement reflects a commitment to ensuring that research staff enjoy the most equitable conditions possible in relation to statutory personnel, as they work side by side to develop translational research that improves patients’ quality of life.
Biomedical Research Foundations play a key role in conducting clinical trials in humans, promoting basic, translational, and clinical research lines—many of which arise from the day‑to‑day needs of healthcare professionals—and in patenting, licensing, and commercializing scientific advances to improve the quality of care.
This agreement will enable the imminent hiring of around 200 researchers, who will benefit from a regulatory framework that ensures working conditions that dignify and strengthen the research profession.
Its implementation will mean that the foundations and research institutes will increase their wage bill by between 11.5% and 16.5%, investing an additional €6,200,000 per year in researchers’ salaries.
