The Federation of Services of Comisiones Obreras has lamented this Monday that "our political class and public officials lend themselves to these image washes and bend to business interests".
The union has criticized that the Ministry of Tourism and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands has visited the facilities of one of the hotels of the Balearic chain RIU in the archipelago and have defended that "all current regulations are complied with and promoting a safety culture among all employees", despite the union's criticism for "disregarding the rights and dignity" of its employees.
Comisiones Obreras has indicated that this has been done "without listening to the legitimate claims of the workers in the hospitality sector".
Last December, Comisiones Obreras called a mobilization in a Riu Paraíso Lanzarote hotel, in Puerto del Carmen, as well as in two others in Gran Canaria and Morro Jable. A month ago, it denounced "their coffers at the expense of plunging thousands of Canarian families into poverty".
The union has indicated that "we had already warned of the passage of the Ministry of Tourism", but that "this gesture of homage to the chain" is "a contempt for the workers, specifically those of this chain, which shows who this Government is siding with".
This Federation mobilized during the last quarter of 2024 in front of the doors of two hotels of this chain. "One of the demands that were exposed was the improvement in preventive issues, prioritizing the Department of floors", he stressed, "given the response we understand that these mobilizations have taken their toll, so much so that the chain has rushed to move its threads and put its puppets to dance to its tune".
Thus, they have indicated that "it should be noted that the Minister and the Director General of Labor have not gone to their visit with the task done and have not been informed of the different resolutions of the inspection against what the Ministry endorses as compliance with all regulations". In addition, he stressed that they also "turn a deaf ear to the different demands that this union has towards the RIU chain for breaches of the agreement itself".
In this line, the statement has indicated that "not to mention that during the visit the Minister should not have asked about the reality of those adjustable beds, and that is that they are causing other risks derived from the pushing force when folding the bed again. This can happen if the prevention service establishes preventive measures without taking into account the affected workers themselves".
The union has stressed that "we could expect large investments from this chain in whitewashing its image through the media, but never that the Government of the Canary Islands would go against the people it represents, making, a few weeks before at FITUR, a video with such a stench of whitewashing. Coincidence? If we transfer it to the big screen, we could consider that we are living on another planet, since ape does not kill ape".
