The representative of the Las Kellys Association of the Canary Islands, Miriam Barros, asked this Friday to the deputies of the Regional Parliament if they would recommend a friend or family member to work as a chambermaid to clean an average of 25 rooms a day, make more than 50 beds daily and push a cart that triples their weight for 1,360 euros per month.
Do you find the sector attractive with these conditions? Would any of you tell a family member or friend to work as a chambermaid? asked the spokesperson, who appeared in a parliamentary committee to talk about the situation of her sector, and concluded: "You don't need to answer me. Probably the answer is no. And I don't blame you. It wouldn't occur to me to advise anyone to work as a chambermaid either."
The lack of workers who want to dedicate themselves to cleaning hotel rooms "is not solved by stopping selling rooms, because the greed of many businessmen is insatiable", so it is solved with "the suffering" of these workers, who are 15,000 in the Canary Islands, and whose overexertion leads to sick leave, she added.
"Being a chambermaid in the Canary Islands is synonymous with job insecurity with a female face," said Barros, who detailed that 98% of the women who work cleaning rooms are women.
In this context, she has blamed politicians for what is happening, because as rulers they have the obligation to ensure the occupational health of all workers and their working conditions.
"Many colleagues can no longer stand the frenetic pace of work and collapse before our eyes," said the chambermaid, who commented that sometimes they spend up to nine days without a day off because when a worker gets sick, their work is divided among the others.
There are hotels where they clean more than 25 rooms a day, with only one day off a week, she denounced, while pointing out that some hoteliers or hotel chains forget that the hotel agreement of Las Palmas specifies that for each free day that the employee works, the employer must return one and a half days and "does not do so".
She has reflected on how much money is being left unpaid to workers in terms of free days in this sector, where there is no record of overtime hours that in practice are "free" for employers.
Given the impossibility of carrying out the work in the established time, many chambermaids enter their job earlier without clocking in to be able to finish on time, she lamented.
In addition, she pointed out that "although it seems incredible" until 2018 chambermaids only had recognized as occupational diseases those that derived from the inhalation of chemical products.
It was in 2018, after the visit of the Kellys to La Moncloa, when chambermaids were included in a table of occupational diseases that restaurant waiters and cooks already had.
Currently many mutual insurance companies, "not to say all", still do not recognize ailments such as bursitis, epicondylitis or carpal tunnel, having to go to court to have the occupational disease recognized as such, she reported.
Another curious fact, she continued, is that in the State Prosecutor's Office for Occupational Accidents there are hardly any records of serious work accidents of chambermaids, this being "one of the most harmful jobs for health" within the sector.
Regarding ergonomic studies, which companies are required by law to comply with, she warned that in the Canary Islands there are not enough prevention technicians to carry them out and proof of this is that the Ministry of Tourism itself has had to contact prevention technicians to carry out 228 ergonomic studies in the hotels of the Canary Islands.
"What this study is going to say is that the activity of chambermaid needs and demands not only legislative measures but also business awareness in occupational health," said the representative of the Las Kellys Association of the Canary Islands, who admitted that her colleagues not only have sore arms, but also have musculoskeletal and psychosocial problems.
They suffer from anxiety and stress, which makes it "practically impossible" for a chambermaid to reach the age of 67 in active service, which is the current retirement age.
The last 10 working years are spent on medical leave and in some cases with permanent disabilities, revealed Barros, who has asked the deputies to agree and jointly request the Ministry of Social Security to reduce the retirement age for chambermaids to 58 years with 20 years of service.
"After having left our lives and health in the economic engine of our land we deserve at least a decent retirement," she concluded.
She has also spoken about the lack of housing and the increase in rental prices that suffocate them, because, with their salary, they cannot afford to pay a rent of 1,000 or 1,100 euros.
In addition, she has asked about the proposal that employers give housing to workers, whether it will be offering a house at an affordable price so that they can live with their family or deducting 300 euros per month from their salary for sharing a room with four people or for living in barracks with 12 people, as happened in the 90s.
In this way, she has said, it would only further precarious the sector because not only would their work depend on the employer but also the housing, which would lead to workers "much more vulnerable to the service of the boss".
Would you recommend a friend to be a chambermaid?, a Kelly asks the deputies
"Being a chambermaid in the Canary Islands is synonymous with job insecurity with a female face," said Miriam Barros, who detailed that 98% of the women who work cleaning rooms are women.
