"No one has been paid anything, not a penny, zero." Juan Hernández Ortega and Ayoze Páez Luzardo worked on the campaign of the Party of Independents of Lanzarote for the elections of last May 24; and with that bluntness they assure that none of the 22 people who worked for the party in those days has received their salary. In Juan's case, the debt amounts to 1,500 euros for just over a month of work, which, according to him, could prevent him from being evicted from the house he rents. However, the total debt with the employees would be much higher, 45,000 euros, they claim. In addition, they maintain that they were working without a contract and that it was Dimas Martín himself who "led the campaign" and promised to pay them; but now "he washes his hands."
In the Excel sheet provided by these two PIL employees, in which they claim that all expenses are listed, the figure of 63,198 euros in personnel expenses is read in the first line. "That includes their salary, the debt is 45,000 euros between workers' salaries, drivers and trucks," explains Juan, emphasizing that "no one" has received what is owed to them. "Several companies made donations for the campaign, not much but something, and they took it to buy flags, badges...", he continues. Juan claims that with these donations the party bought "everything they were not trusted with". "They have not put anything, they have done the campaign with people's ribs," he laments. "They take advantage because they know you're not working and you need the money. They started stalling us, the campaign ended and we were left without the money," says Ayoze for his part. "Everyone wants to get rid of the dead weight, but there has to be someone responsible," he adds.
In his case, the debt is "only 300 euros", for specific jobs. He assures that he is not in a hurry to collect it, but that he wanted to accompany Juan to make his situation public "to show his face" and because he considers it a matter "of decency". "I, if I don't have money to pay you, I don't hire you," adds Juan Hernández. According to this last one, as an employee of the PIL, he was in charge of placing the flags with the symbol of the formation, assembling and disassembling and working in various electoral events of the party. "I worked until 12, or 1, or 4 in the morning," he says, adding that now he fears it was "for nothing."
"Fabián was the one running, but the father was in charge of everything"
Both workers point directly to Dimas Martín, historical leader of the party, as responsible for the non-payment. While showing a printed photograph in which a long table with members of the PIL such as Martín himself, his son Fabián or the current acting president, Ramón Bermúdez, can be seen, they indicate that it is a meeting "in the party's warehouse". "In that meeting everyone decided that Dimas would lead the campaign," they assert.
"Dimas father is the one who has carried everything," assures, vehemently, Juan Hernández. "Fabián is the one who was running, but the one who was in charge of everything was the father, the one who was in the office and directed everything. Everything was done by the father's voice. He is the dog, but he doesn't have the collar. He can't do it because he is being prosecuted, but the one who has carried everything has been him," he adds. "He told us where we had to go, the routes, the flags that were placed... Everything," adds Ayoze.
They assure that Martín has "stalled" them since the election campaign ended. "You call him in a good way and he tells you that for next week, you wait and then they tell you that he is in Madrid, that the plane broke down...", Ayoze lists. According to them, Dimas Martín even said that he would mortgage a piece of land to pay the 22 workers and that the procedure was only pending "a signature at the notary", but "now he says it's a lie and that he has nothing to do with it." "The last time I called him he told me he was in a meeting, 10 minutes later I caught him leaving the supermarket," says Ayoze.
"I think the campaign was done for Fabián, not for Ramón Bermúdez, but I also understand that when someone takes a position they have to know the position they take and the debts that exist, but Mr. Bermúdez is the first to wash his hands and says that he does not have to pay anything from that campaign," adds Juan, pointing out that the ultimate responsibility for paying them corresponds to the party. Both also maintain that in the warehouse from where their work was coordinated "there was a sheet with the list of hours that each one worked"; "but yesterday (this Thursday) they took it away so as not to leave evidence or anything."
The "only paper", "the three ballots"
In addition, Juan Hernández and Ayoze Páez assert that they did all those jobs without having previously signed a contract. "We agreed 6 euros per hour, contract and, if they were elected, a bonus," explains Juan. However, they claim that this document "was never signed."
Juan explains that they asked him for a photocopy of his ID and assured him that an agency would process his contract. "As contracts sometimes take 20 days in an agency, I was calm. But the work was over and I didn't see anything, I didn't get to sign", he says. This worker believes that the party prepared the contracts to "register them on the fly" in case something happened.
"They asked me for my ID and driver's license and they told me 'you are going to be insured, you are going to work the hours that are necessary, you will be insured half a day only in case something happens'. We were working 10 or 12 hours and we had insurance for 4", narrates Ayoze for his part. "The paper they gave us was the last day: an envelope with the three votes of the City Council, Cabildo and Parliament", he concludes.
"The responsibility lies with whoever hired them"
"In the matter of the workers there is a lot of discomfort, but I have just arrived, I have not hired anyone and I am finding this surprise", affirms for his part the acting president of the formation, Ramón Bermúdez. He assures that the responsible parties are the members of the "campaign committee and the campaign administrator" appointed by the party. "What can be done now is to listen in this period of transition (until there is a president elected in the party congress) and see if it can be channeled. But what are we going to pay them if there is no money? We were not organizing the campaign, much less me."
In that committee, "it was authorized in the Political Council that Don Dimas Martín lend a hand", said Bermúdez last Monday on Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero. According to him, Carlos Martín was also "directing", while Fabián Martín was the coordinator and Evaristo González, the administrator. "We would like to know who was the person who made that verbal contract because they will have to answer for them", he added later, avoiding the responsibility of the party. For Bermúdez, "if there is a physical person who made a verbal contract" that person who claims a payment "if there is no other option, will have to go to court and have a judge put things in their place". "I cannot assume what I do not know and, much less, as acting president", he maintains, pointing out that if they call him he will meet with whoever is necessary.
Ayoze and Juan, however, claim that they have already tried unsuccessfully on several occasions and accuse him of "washing his hands". For Juan, "you can't have people like that representing a town". "I am waiting for an eviction, you explain to him (to Dimas Martín) the situation in which he is and he is not even able to say take the 200 euros that you need for the house, he does not have the heart or the kindness to say that. I pick up scrap metal to be able to eat, because they are going to kick us out of the house", he concludes, worried.
