More than 300 Christmas baskets were bought and paid for by the Tourist Centers in the Christmas of two years ago, but they were not even delivered to the workers. "If they want to do populism, let Echedey Eugenio explain why he bought baskets and then decided to throw them in the trash", claimed the president of the Works Council, Antonio Bonilla. This is how he responded to the statement sent this Wednesday by Coalición Canaria, which has accused the new government group of "wasting" by recovering this year the Christmas baskets for all the employees of the Cabildo.
It was almost a decade ago, coinciding with the economic crisis, when the institution stopped delivering them. However, at least in 2017, the previous CC government also acquired them for the Tourist Centers. This is reflected in the invoice that La Voz has had access to, which shows an expense of 14,784 euros in 320 baskets, which included, among other things, nougat, shortbread, sugared almonds, almogrote, two types of cheese, two bottles of wine and another of rum.
Once the purchase was made and with the baskets already in the Centers, sources from the company explain that the then CEO, José Juan Lorenzo, received an order not to distribute them "so as not to create a comparative grievance with the rest of the Cabildo workers", so they ended up in a warehouse. "The cheese started to turn half green", recalls Antonio Bonilla, who says that it was then that the management became "concerned".
About 3,000 euros thrown away just in cheese
"The cleaning staff of the Farmer's Monument were in charge of throwing it away", says the union representative. For its part, the company confirms that those baskets ended up dismantled and that all the products that had expired ended up in the trash, including 320 pieces of soft cheese and as many semi-cured cheese, worth almost 3,000 euros.
"Some of the almogrote cans were thrown away, others were broken and some were placed in the store, which I don't know if they ever sold any. The shortbread, some that were not thrown away were given to the customers", said Antonio Bonilla. A version that coincides with the one given by company sources, who point out that some products ended up in the commissary; others, such as shortbread, sugared almonds and nougat, were served during the 2018 Christmas dinners; and the wine and almogrote were sold in the Centers. As for the rum, they say that there are still "about six bottles" left to sell, of the 320 that they bought for some baskets that never reached their destination.
"When Coalición Canaria comes out now with this news, the workers are outraged, because it is a lack of respect and memory on the part of the councilors. If two years ago they threw the Christmas baskets in the trash because they didn't want to give them to the workers or because the cheese started to turn green or whatever, don't talk about waste now", Bonilla has claimed. "They always lash out at the workers, which is easy, but when talking about waste you have to speak properly", he added, questioning other expenses made, such as in the deficient underwater museum, in the archaeological museum that has not yet opened its doors or in the lost lawsuits.
"Seafood platters" and baskets "for certain media"
In addition, the president of the Works Council of the Centers has assured that it was the workers who in 2008 suggested that the money from the Christmas baskets be given to NGOs. However, he criticizes that in this decade they have not been shown "a document that says where all that money that the workers saved was destined".
Meanwhile, he assures that what they have seen in this time is how "workers from a media outlet that always loads the ink against the staff of the Centers went to pick up ham legs and boxes with their corresponding bonus" to the Castillo de San José. "We are not saying that the Cabildo paid for them, but they did pick them up from a Tourist Center, the closest one they had to their workplace. What I am saying is why did they pick them up there? It's not like it was a warehouse!", he questioned, adding that "as a worker, as a citizen and as a member of the Works Council" he has "the doubt of who paid for those baskets".
In addition, he has also recounted other episodes, such as a "seafood platter" that he assures was organized "to invite certain media" to a dinner organized by the Cabildo under the CC government. "Seafood brought from Galicia", he stressed. "We are not pointing to specific media, but what we find sad, painful and a little cynical is that certain media that gorged themselves on fresh razor clams brought from Galicia, are now surprised that workers are given a bonus or attention from the company", he lamented.
