The PSOE considers that the debate on absenteeism in the Canary Islands is "over" and the Canary Coalition (CC), that the percentage of it, around 6%, is "satisfactory", as it makes a reverse reading and values that 94% of workers "comply".
These were the terms expressed by the deputy of the Socialist group Gustavo Santana and the deputy of the Nationalist group Francisco Linares during the appearance in parliamentary commission of the Minister of Tourism and Employment, Jessica de León, to address a CCOO report on absenteeism.
Said report disassociates absenteeism from low productivity in the Canary Islands, reproaches the employers for intermingling both concepts and points to factors such as territorial specificity and ultraperipherality, low wages, working conditions or difficulties in reconciling.
On the matter, Minister Jéssica de León has emphasized that absenteeism rates increase year after year and this has "a direct impact" on companies.
She has asked "not to demonize" employers, nor unions, "for insisting on debating" about absenteeism.
Absenteeism and productivity
The minister has said she shares several of the conclusions of the CCOO report, except for the comparison of the Canary Islands with the Basque Country, the latter community which, despite having a higher percentage of absenteeism, has higher productivity, since that, she said, implies "cheating at solitaire" given the differences in the productive fabric of both territories.
She has stressed that both unions and employers "agree" on the need for a "deeper analysis" of both concepts, and that the discrepancy lies in whether to do it together or separately, and has appealed to the "spirit of consensus" in the field of social dialogue, where the administration must act as an "arbitrator" and only act in case of deviations.
Jéssica de León has alluded to other reports, such as those of the Canarian Employment Service and the Canarian Employment Observatory, which indicate that the main reasons for rejecting a job offer are difficulties in reconciling, accessing housing and commuting.
Regarding the problems of reconciliation in the Canary Islands, the minister has acknowledged, in response to questions from Vox deputy Paula Jover, that this is the reason why "a part" of the labor market in the Canary Islands is discouraged.
"Many people have to choose to stay at home. It's not that they don't want to work," said the minister, who has refuted the statement of the Vox parliamentarian that an increase in unemployment benefits discourages the incorporation or reincorporation of their recipients into the labor market.
Gustavo Santana (PSOE) stressed that the debate on absenteeism "is over" despite the fact that the employers, for an "economistic interest", have been trying to relate it to low productivity for "more than a year", including justified sick leaves in the statistics to obtain data that "go too far".
He has detected "certain negativity" towards workers when this debate is addressed, giving the impression that "they are irresponsible", with the aim of the employers
Regarding the role of the administration in social dialogue, he stressed that the Canarian Law on Labor Relations enables it to intervene to unblock negotiations.
Francisco Linares (CC) has stated that "the Canary Islands are not absentee", in light of the statistics, and has emphasized that "the richer the communities, the higher the salaries and in theory they have higher productivity, the higher the absenteeism".
He has valued that this is "one of the few lists in which the Canary Islands is not at the bottom", and although he has conceded that the phenomenon of absenteeism must be analyzed, he has cited as an example the City Council of La Orotava, where he is mayor, and where it barely reaches 4%.
"In general, workers are serious people, who comply," he said, and lamented that "sometimes they are stigmatized as not going", as "working little", as "making bridges", but "mostly it is not like that," he insisted.
The nationalist deputy believes that "productivity is a subjective issue, it depends on the prism with which it is seen", and that taking into account the salaries, working conditions and difficulties in reconciling of the Canarians "we should feel satisfied in general".
Rebeca Paniagua (PP) has emphasized "the disparity between the hours worked and those agreed" and the non-compliance with them in the services sector, which is "a problem for those who comply" because they bear the tasks of those who do not.
She has called for improving the health response to reduce absenteeism rates, given that "a relevant percentage" of workers on sick leave are long-term, and to tackle unjustified absences, something in which she agreed with Vox deputy Paula Jover, who stressed "the unquestionable consequences" that this has on the economy.
"If we all stayed at home, that would have an undeniable effect on productivity," reasoned Jover, who has advocated a "serious policy" of prevention and an "adequate" management of sick leaves by the mutual insurance companies.
Natalia Santana (Nueva Canarias) has opined that the CCOO report "completely dismantles the discourse of the employers", which is "demonizing, simplistic and places only on the workers the responsibility for the low productivity" in the islands.
Santana has added that in the Canary Islands "one cannot talk about productivity" without first improving "the desolate conditions of the kellys".
Jesús Ramos (ASG) and Raúl Acosta (AHI) have stressed the importance of training to improve productivity rates.