Photos: Sergio Betancort
The Kellys Lanzarote association, which represents the hotel maids of the island, has once again staged a new protest this Thursday at the doors of a hotel, this time in Puerto del Carmen. "We will not negotiate anymore. When they touch one, they touch us all," warns the group, which last June suspended a rally that was planned in the same establishment, the Cinco Plazas hotel.
At that time, the workers and the works council reached an agreement, whereby the management of the chain pledged to solve "within five days" the problems reported by five employees, who claimed to suffer "discriminatory treatment", "work overload" and "absence of an ergonomic study". However, they claim that the company did not fulfill its promise.
"That deadline has expired a long time ago and no improvements have been seen. It has only been verified that the hotel management has threatened and intimidated the maids with dismissal if they did not withdraw the complaint," the Kellys say. In fact, they maintain that "some of the complainants, faced with the possibility of losing their jobs, have withdrawn the complaint, without obtaining any improvement in their employment situation in return."
Of the five who initially complained, only one maintains her complaint. Now, according to the association, "the only girl who has decided to stand up to the abuses and continue with her complaint is the victim of verbal reprisals by both the management and the head of the department." According to them, "the overload is still the most normal thing in this department and if the girl who has continued with the complaint does not manage to finish her tasks within her working hours, she receives disciplinary reports from the management." For this reason, they decided to call a new protest at the doors of the hotel, at 7:30 p.m. this Thursday, which this time has taken place.
