The assembly of workers at the Princesa Yaiza hotel has agreed this Thursday to call two rallies at the doors of the establishment due to the company's breaches and delays in the payment of wages that they have been suffering "for years." In fact, the Works Council already denounced the situation before the Canarian Labor Court and an agreement was reached, but they claim that the property is failing to comply with it and that they "no longer trust" their word.
The first step will be a rally on August 30 and another on September 11 in front of the hotel. "If that doesn't work, the option is to go on strike," said the Secretary of Trade Union Action of CCOO Lanzarote, Francisco Martínez. In fact, the minutes of the assembly state that it has also been approved "to start a strike notice process, with stoppages during customer service hours."
The union explains that the delay in the payment of wages is causing workers to suffer "surcharges on mortgages" and "problems with rents." According to them, the situation has been dragging on for years and when they threaten a strike or a rally, "they pay well for two months in a row, but then they go back again." Therefore, they no longer trust the promises and have decided to initiate these pressure measures.
"It is regrettable that this happens in a five-star luxury hotel"
"It is regrettable that in a five-star luxury hotel, where occupancy is practically 100 percent, and with the benefits that this establishment has, workers suffer continuous delays in the payment of their wages," denounced the general secretary of CCOO Lanzarote, Vanesa Frahija.
"It has been something very repeated over time and the workers have said enough is enough," explains the union representative, who emphasizes that in recent years they have also had to denounce other "irregularities" in this hotel, such as "the workload" or the assignment of workers to functions that did not correspond to them. "There were workers providing services in the pool but at the same time acting as a pool attendant and acting as a waiter," she detailed "as an example," but highlighting that there are "quite a few more issues," such as the one related to the minimum percentage of permanent permanent contracts that there must be.
"We have always fought against job insecurity, regardless of the employer. Mr. Juan Francisco Rosa may be a very important owner on the island of Lanzarote, but Comisiones Obreras has never hesitated to stand up to any employer who fails to comply with their workers," Frahija warned.
Thus, apart from the pressure measures that the workers will now initiate, she has announced that the union will resume the collective dispute, requesting the "immediate execution" of the agreements that had been reached before the Canarian Labor Court. In addition, she also pointed out that last week they already contacted the Labor Inspectorate "to enforce all the irregularities that we are seeing day by day."
The workers "are losing their fear"
The secretary of CCOO has highlighted the contrast between the situation experienced by the workers and "the data we have on the occupancy and the benefits that the employers take" in Lanzarote. "Not all employers are the same, but those who fail to comply, those who exploit their workers, those who do not comply with the collective agreement or the legal regulations, not that way," she insisted.
In addition, Frahija believes that workers are "losing their fear of defending their rights and fighting." Regarding the administration, she affirms that "it should act" in these situations. "We have to listen every day to workers who cannot pay their rent, their mortgage or their children's school," she lamented.
And in the case of the Princesa Yaiza hotel, she considers that it is "incredible that people who work where they are working are at risk every month of being evicted or of the bank making them a call or that they cannot meet all their payments."
