Comisiones Obreras has requested the Government of the Canary Islands to launch “immediately” a tripartite table where they can agree on measures to face the economic situation that the archipelago is facing due to the Covid-19 crisis. “At the gates of the high season in the Canary archipelago and with more than 85,000 workers (mostly from the tourism sector) still in ERTES, if the Government of the Canary Islands does not act quickly and diligently, we will be forced to a destruction of employment that will be catastrophic”, warns the union.
In addition, it also demands that measures be adopted for workers who are still in ERTE, who have already been suffering “serious damage” by receiving only 70% of their salary, and who are now going to see their income reduced again. “The 70% they are currently receiving will, after the first 180 days, be only 50% of their salary”, warns CCOO, which also emphasizes that the salaries of the archipelago “are the lowest in the country, only behind Extremadura”.
“From CCOO Canarias we consider it essential to articulate an economic supplement for the workers included in ERTEs, as has been done by autonomous communities such as the Basque Country, Navarra, Valencia or Galicia”, he claims.
Regarding tourist activity, on which the Canary economy depends and which is being the most punished by the crisis, CCOO considers it “essential that PCRs be carried out at origin and destination, in order to reinforce confidence as a safe destination”, and that “health corridors be established from the countries of origin as well as the health guarantees committed by the Government of Spain with the Islands”. “Returning to a new confinement would not only have disastrous repercussions on employment, the economic cost would be much higher than investing in detections and tracking of Covid-19 at present”, he stresses.
For this reason, the union has requested the Minister of Economy, Knowledge and Employment. Elena Mañez, as well as the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Yaiza Castilla, the implementation of a tripartite table, where the most representative trade union and business organizations and the Government participate, in order to carry out “all the necessary measures to safeguard employment and the main economic activity of the Canary Islands, where PCR tests are guaranteed at origin and destination, as well as a supplement for workers affected by ERTEs who have seen their income reduced by 50%”.
