The workers who care for minors will receive a bonus of 100 euros in the Canary Islands

 The Government of Canarias will apply a residence bonus or insularity bonus of about 100 euros per month to nearly 5,000 workers in the child care sector, 80% of whom are women, a measure that will be immediately incorporated into new public tenders and will amount to around 1,400 euros annually per employee.

The agreement, signed by the president of Canarias, Fernando Clavijo; the counselor of Social Welfare, Candelaria Delgado, and representatives of UGT and CCOO, seeks to improve labor conditions in a sector considered strategic and with high demand for personnel, in addition to favoring staff stability and attracting new professionals.

The president of Canarias has indicated that this measure responds to an exercise of “coherence”, by transferring to public contracts the salary improvements demanded from the private sector, preventing bidding processes from prioritizing only price to the detriment of labor rights.

Likewise, he highlighted the role of workers who care for minors, especially in high-pressure contexts such as increased immigration, and thanked them for their work “in complex conditions” during recent years.

José Ramón Barroso, from CCOO; and Francisco Bautista, from UGT, valued the agreement as a step forward after 15 years of demands and pointed out that the supplement will benefit thousands of families in an uncertain economic context, in addition to marking the beginning of future improvements in other areas.

The residence bonus is already contemplated in the sector's state agreement, but its effective application in Canarias will now be guaranteed through its mandatory inclusion in public procurement specifications.

The Canarian Government considers that this measure will contribute to making the care sector more attractive, where there is a growing need for personnel, and will reinforce the quality of the service provided to citizens, as detailed by the counselor of Social Welfare.

Both the regional Executive and the unions announced that they are already working on the negotiation of specific collective agreements in Canarias for sectors such as dependency and disability, with the aim of adapting them to the singularities of the archipelago.