Employers and unions in the Canary Islands maintain discrepancies in negotiations on labor and economic conditions in the hotel sector, which does not prevent the strike called for Holy Week from taking place.
Discrepancies that persist after what will be the last meeting with representatives of the employers in which members of the Tourism Department of the Government of the Canary Islands will participate as mediators.
At the end of the meeting, Manuel Fitas, representative of Sindicalistas de Base, told EFE that it has been the "third well-intentioned failure" of the Government of the Canary Islands, and added that the unions will not call off the strike if there is no agreement with the employers on "all" the points included in the strike notice.
The employers urge to negotiate the maintenance of purchasing power, but within the scope of collective bargaining, and the unions have accepted the proposal to open the negotiating table of the agreement to resolve the issues that both parties want to include.
Manuel Fitas indicated that the employers maintain the position of conditioning any salary agreement linked to the opening of collective agreements, with which, he added, the unions have stated that the strike has been called due to a situation of work overload and conciliation, among other reasons.
For the unions, according to the unionist, if the employers propose an extraordinary salary review to mitigate the loss of purchasing power of workers, the strike could be called off and then open the agreement table, but always if they previously accept the points of the notice.
The unions have called the strike due to the work overload, indicated Manuel Fitas, who added that they are asking for shifts that allow reconciling family and work lives, eliminating split shifts and work excesses, as well as adjusting the staff to the needs of the service to customers, with work rhythms that do not put at risk occupational safety and health.
They also demand the replacement of sick leaves, the adaptation of professional categories to the functions that are actually performed, as well as the justified use of hiring through temporary employment agencies.
The unions have indicated in a statement that the meeting has been a failure due to the "immovable" position of the employers of the two provinces and not accepting a salary review agreement prior to the opening of the negotiating tables of the agreements of both provinces.
A salary review that allows workers to recover the purchasing power lost in the last three years of 5.45%, to be increased with respect to 2%, in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and 2.25% in that of Las Palmas, established for 2025, the unions add.
They explain that the hotel union table has agreed to sit down to open the negotiating table of both agreements to address the union demands in the strike notices, including the increase in the salary review.
They conclude that the general strike "seems inevitable", although they maintain their willingness to negotiate until the last minute to avoid it".
The position of the employers
The employers of the province of Las Palmas, which are Federation of Hospitality and Tourism Employers of Las Palmas (FEHT); Association of Tourist Entrepreneurs of Fuerteventura (Asofuer); Tourist Federation of Lanzarote (FTL) and Insular Association of Hotels and Apartments of Lanzarote (Asolan) have urged the trade union organizations represented in the negotiating committee to open collective bargaining in the sector.
In a statement they explain that they have registered this request in the General Directorate of Labor of the Government of the Canary Islands, and they say that in this way they express their willingness to open negotiations with the unions, "with the horizon mainly placed on the signing of a new collective agreement".
A collective agreement "that guarantees stability in employment, security of jobs, maintenance of purchasing power and the viability of companies".
The associations of employers of Las Palmas consider that this process should always take place within the scope and autonomy of collective bargaining, and being able to bring to the negotiating table the demands that come from both parties.
In principle, next week there will be a meeting between representatives of the employers and the unions of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in which Manuel Fitas proposes that the rest of the unions of the agreement table participate as guests.
