Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista (NC-BC) demands explanations from the Government presided over by Fernando Clavijo for its "systematic blocking" of labor improvements for cleaning ladies. The parliamentary spokesperson on the matter for the Canarista group, Natalia Santana, has requested the immediate appearance of the Minister of Tourism and Employment, Jessica de León, in the plenary session next week since, halfway through the legislature, the CC and PP Executive “has done absolutely nothing” and the minister's commitments are “smoke”.
The NC-BC deputy stated that De León has to “clarify what real actions” she has taken to improve the working conditions of cleaning ladies. "Two years of legislature have passed and the results are smoke”, she denounced. Santana accused the Executive of the two Canarian rights of "blocking, systematically, any legislative measure that dignifies work in the tourism sector, especially with regard to the feminized, invisible and one of the most precarious kellys” of the islands.
“The Government has done absolutely nothing”, she stated. The minister, as she recalled, was courteous when the kellys went to Parliament, but the reality is that “she has neither fulfilled her promises nor acted responsibly”. The improvements that some workers have achieved are the result of their own negotiations with unions, “not of the action of the Executive”, Santana denounced.
She said that NC-BC has presented four improvement amendments, agreed with the cleaning ladies, to the bill to modify the Tourism Planning Law in process in the Chamber, with the aim of introducing mandatory measures to protect the health and labor rights of cleaning ladies.
Among them, the implementation of motorized carts, SOS bracelets against aggressions and the elimination of Nordic duvets. However, according to the parliamentary spokesperson, the Executive and the groups that support it from CC, PP, ASG and AHI are trying to “vet them one by one”, as they already announced with the mandatory adjustable beds.
According to Natalia Santana, the CC and PP pact has decided to “please the employers instead of protecting the workers who support tourism” in the Archipelago. For NC-BC, the “supposed” commitment to sustainable and quality tourism is a “farce if it is not accompanied by decent working conditions”.
She recalled that, in September 2023, the Minister of Tourism publicly committed to carry out ergonomic and psychosocial studies to assess the situation of cleaning ladies. “The study has recently arrived. What it says is exactly what we have been denouncing for years, which is essential to implement” adjustable beds, motorized carts, eliminate heavy duvets and establish real security and health measures. But instead of acting, Santana reproached the Clavijo Government for “ignoring its own conclusions and blocking the law to prevent it from being mandatory”.
She described it as “shameful” that, at a time when the Canary Islands are breaking records for tourist arrivals and hotel occupancy, "the economic benefit is not translated into salary improvements or decent working conditions". “We are the second community with the worst salaries. How long will this model of precariousness for our workers last?”, she questioned.
Natalia Santana reaffirmed her "commitment" to the cleaning ladies. “We are going to continue demanding that the dignity of these women be respected”. For Nueva Canarias, “one cannot speak” of sustainability or quality tourism while “basic rights are violated and the conditions of those who clean, care for and support the hotels of this Archipelago day by day are ignored”.
