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IMAGES: Sergio Betancort
Garbage containers are overflowing in Tinajo. The municipality is suffering a strike by cleaning service workers, who have not been paid their salaries for two months, according to the general secretary of UGT in Lanzarote, César Reyes, to Radio Lanzarote. The employees decided on Friday to start an indefinite strike and the mayor of Tinajo, Jesús Machín, has announced that it is likely that the City Council will seize the waste collection service.
This conflict has been going on for a long time due to the "poor economic situation" of the Camilo Álvarez business group, which was awarded this service. "The situation of this group is very weak, we had been warning the Tinajo City Council for some time to opt for measures to avoid this strike," said César Reyes. And it should be remembered that this same company operated in Teguise and Tías, city councils that had to proceed to seize the service. In addition, Tías will be forced to return this service to the awarding company, since the seizure expires in December.
"Tinajo has to act quickly, because this is intolerable. Everyone has good words but administratively not a stone has been moved," said the general secretary of UGT in Lanzarote, who recalled that this business group "has numerous debts with Social Security, with the regional and state tax authorities, so they receive multiple embargoes."
Seizure of the service
For his part, the mayor of Tinajo, Jesús Machín, has pointed out that the City Council "has done everything possible, has tried to mediate, has looked for solutions" so that the workers did not opt for the strike. "I have done everything possible, I have gone as far as I could, I have tried not to be drastic, but it has not been possible," Machín said, who has announced that it is most likely that this Monday the garbage collection service of the municipality will be seized. "This is what the legal services advise us," he said.
And, according to the mayor, the City Council "does not owe much money" to the company. The debt, according to Machín, is estimated at 90,000 euros. The problem is that every time the City Council transfers its payment to the company, it cannot pay its workers because it suffers so many embargoes, he said.
Jesús Machín has expressed his hope that this problem will "end soon" and has warned that the containers in Tinajo "are full and overflowing." "The situation worries me and, therefore, we will ask for a health report to find out if it is affecting the health of the residents," he said.