The most representative unions of the Canary Islands —Comisiones Obreras, UGT and Intersindical Canaria— accused this Tuesday the transport employers of the islands of wanting to implement "the law of the jungle" with their request to withdraw the tachograph, the device that measures the driving and rest times of workers.
They point out that "what is hidden behind the employers' strike called by the employers is a very old labor conflict, in which the unions have been fighting against abusive working hours in which the rest of professionals is not respected." Precisely, "the introduction of the tachograph has come to limit these illegal practices, imposing sanctions on companies that do not respect labor rights and road safety," the unions point out.
"Short distances, long abuses"
In this regard, the unions respond to the "arguments of the transport employers regarding the fact that in the Canary Islands the use of the tachograph is not necessary because the distances to be covered are very short." The representatives of the workers ask themselves "how, being so short these distances, most of the sanctions that have been imposed have been for exceeding driving and rest times."
On the other hand, they point out that "it is not even true that the tachograph is designed for long continental journeys, since even in the continental European area, the largest number of journeys are short, generally within the province or city itself." Thus, they indicate that "the workers of the Canary Islands know how to use the tachograph perfectly, but this device does nothing but record the abuses in terms of driving and rest time, which is what the employers want to eliminate in order to legalize the very long working days."
A device in force throughout Europe
CCOO, UGT and IC recall that the tachograph is a device assumed normally throughout Europe and throughout the Spanish State for the control of the working day and the driving and rest times of drivers. While in the rest of Europe it has been used since the 80s, in the Canary Islands it did not come into force until 2010. "During the time that this tool did not exist, the working days were very long, because they could not be controlled, due to the lack of a standardized device. This explains why its implementation has resulted in a significant number of sanctions against companies. But the fault -the unions indicate- is not of the tachograph, but of the abuses of the working day."
However, employers argue that "the fines are due to the fact that drivers in the Canary Islands make mistakes in the use of the tachograph", which is, for the three unions, “a childish and intolerable insult.” What happens is that "workloads are assigned that exceed working hours to the detriment of legally established breaks."
The correct interpretation of the European Regulation
On the other hand, the representatives of the workers remind the transport employers that, "although the European Regulation allows exempting the tachograph in the islands with a territory of less than 2,300 square kilometers, it is no less true that the same Regulation links this exemption to improving working conditions and road safety, control and application practices, as well as labor practices in the road transport sector." However, "the withdrawal of the tachograph in the Canary Islands would not contribute in any way to improving these principles but, on the contrary, to violate them and to generalize the abuse of workers with impunity without a control mechanism," the unions conclude.