This meeting was possible thanks to the mediation of the Tourism Board's counselor, Miguel Ángel Leal, who had been trying for several days to get both parties to sit down and talk in order to avoid a discretionary transport strike that would be a very hard blow for the island's tourism.
Last Friday, August 12, businessmen and unions agreed to meet yesterday morning to begin discussing specific aspects of the conflict. To this end, they pledged to prepare their proposals in order to set a schedule of actions. However, negotiations were postponed again until 5:00 p.m., to have the presence of a member of the Labor Court.
However, the meeting took place at the Tourism Board first thing in the morning, and lasted for more than two hours, without the presence of José Pérez, the representative of the Lanzarote Tourist Transport Association (ASTRATUR). Gerardo Fontes, president of the Lanzarote Tourist Business Federation (AETUR), as well as union representatives Matías Mulet, president of the Trade Union (USO) and other members of the union, were present.
The counselor Miguel Ángel Leal, who has acted as mediator of the conflict between workers and employers to sit at the same table to talk, announced yesterday at the end of the meeting that his work is over. From now on, negotiations are in the hands of unions, employers and the Canary Islands Labor Court.
The counselor contacted the General Directorate of Labor yesterday morning to ask them to intervene in the conflict and this institution pledged to send a representative to sit down with the workers and employers. The meeting was convened for that same afternoon, at 5:00 p.m. at the Mediation, Arbitration and Conciliation Service (SEMAC). The unions had already requested the intervention of the General Directorate of Labor, which is the one with the competences in this matter, through the Canary Islands Labor Court. The counselor was optimistic and said that there are many possibilities to solve a conflict that could jeopardize the external image of Lanzarote in a month in which the island assumes a large volume of tourist activity".
