The workers of the Lanzarote Tourist Centers maintain the call for a strike next Monday despite the proposals made by the management of the EPEL accepting the demands of the Works Council, but introducing the possibility of subcontracting other companies and varying the conditions of the collective agreement relating to employee schedules. This was confirmed to LA VOZ by Andrés Barreto, a member of the Committee.
On the other hand, the Board of Directors of the Centers of Art, Culture and Tourism (CACT) met yesterday to ratify Pedro San Ginés in the position of CEO of the Centers.
Workers' discomfort
Barreto conveyed the workers' discomfort at the return of such a criticized character to the management of the public company, which is interpreted by the Works Council as the imposition of a continuous management line, according to the "lack of willingness to negotiate" that has characterized the leader of the Centers in the last year and a half. In addition, the councilor of Alternativa Ciudadana 25 de Mayo expressed "the incomprehension" that a person who had resigned from the position of his own free will is chosen as leader of the centers.
Meeting with the president
For their part, the representatives of the Works Council are meeting today with the president of the Island Council, Inés Rojas de León, in order to present to the Presidency the demands of the employees and try to find a negotiated solution to a conflict that has become entrenched in the conejera society. The members of the Committee have great hopes in this meeting, given what they describe as the "stubbornness" of the managers of the EPEL.
Victor Arbelo, a member of the CACT Works Council, assessed in the Buenos Días Lanzarote program of the island's leading radio station the recent decision of the management of the Centers to accept all the demands of the workers by presenting a counterpart of two points.
Modification of the agreement
The company intends to include in the agreement the possibility of hiring workers for certain events when the center's employees are not available, as well as being able to establish working hours based on the specific needs of each of the CACTs.
This modification of the current collective agreement for not having been renewed since it expired in 2003 will mean the elimination of the point that prohibits multiple employment, or what is the same, the hiring of personnel from other companies, in addition to the deletion of the paragraph referring to respect for the most beneficial shifts that each worker may have.
In this sense, Arbelo explained that if all the points of the current agreement were met today, "the cost (for management) would be higher than what the workers are asking for".
Arbelo described the EPEL's proposal as a "mockery of the workers" and stressed that the only thing the employees are asking for is that the five points demanded by the Works Council be accepted and a schedule of negotiations "outside the agreement" be agreed upon where both the company and the workers can present the various initiatives.
Thus, Arbelo clarified that there are aspects in the operation of the Centers that have not been taken to the negotiation, but that are nevertheless relevant for a good management of the same.
Thus, according to Arbelo, the costs of the suppliers are exorbitant, so the Committee has asked the Administration in writing for the list of suppliers, articles and prices at which the products are purchased. In this way, it seems that the workers are the first interested in "seeking profitability for the Centers", even if it is because they represent the livelihood for more than 350 people, who obviously want the CACTs to earn money, in order to preserve jobs.
