It seems that asking to work less to live better is an unforgivable audacity in the Canary Islands. This week, the autonomous Chamber has decided that the workers of this land, already quite squeezed, do not deserve even 37.5 hours of work rest. Of course not! Who do they think they are? People?
Coalición Canaria, PP, ASG, AHI and the palmeros of Vox have said NO to a motion that supported the reduction of the working day. Why? Because they say it is a state imposition. Because they, of course, are waiting for the employers —the same ones who have been saying for years that they cannot raise wages, or reduce hours, or offer stability— to sit down and negotiate voluntarily. As if that were going to happen before Jesus Christ returns, but with a temporary contract.
Cynicism in institutional version
The most fascinating thing about this parliamentary theater is that all the groups said they were in favor of working less. What a miracle! But of course, when it comes to voting, they align themselves with the employers, with the fear of progress and with the eternal excuse of "it is not the moment".
When is the moment then? When we are all with burnout, anxiety crisis and giving thanks for a 20-hour contract with a 1995 salary? When we Canarians continue to be the ones who work the most for those who earn the least?
Because let's remember: the Canary Islands has 33.8% of its population at risk of poverty or social exclusion. And even so, our illustrious representatives vote against a measure that could improve the balance between life and work. A true portrait of priorities.
Vox: the ultra-theatrics do not disappoint
The Vox deputy, of course, came to say that "people do not want to work less, they want to make ends meet". Thank you, ma'am, for discovering the wheel for us. But one thing does not take away from the other. We want to make ends meet, yes, and also have a life to spend that money. Although in their ideal world, workers are from sun to sun grateful to have work, even if it is in subhuman conditions, that no longer works here. The Canary Islands is not a Francoist farm, no matter how much you dream of it.
The worker, always the last monkey
The serious thing is that this refusal does not only come from Vox. It was signed by parties that call themselves moderate, nationalist, of government. Those same ones who fill their mouths with words like "progress", "future" or "Canariedad", but when it comes to defending the worker, they hide under the skirt of the CEOE.
Reducing the working day is not a whim, it is health, it is dignity, it is justice. Or do those who voted against have 40-hour days in a Mercadona, a call center or a hotel in Fuerteventura? Spoiler: no.
Conclusion: this is not about ideologies, it is about humanity
It is not about right or left, but about having a little empathy and common sense. If a worker can perform the same or better in 37.5 hours, if he can have time to take care of his children, study or simply rest, why deny it? By dogma? Out of loyalty to the employers? To annoy the PSOE even if it is at the expense of the people?
Do you know what is populism? Pretending to govern for the people while legislating for those at the top. So less beautiful speeches and more facts. Because if you are not with the workers, you are clearly against them. And in politics, as in life, that also pays.
