SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 26 Aug. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Secretary General of UGT, Pepe Álvarez, has called upon Coalición Canaria (CC) to support the reduction of the working day in Congress, emphasising the necessity to “reduce working hours” in Spanish companies.

Speaking to journalists during a general assembly of the union in Tenerife, he announced that he would convey his position to the President of the Canaries and Secretary General of the nationalist formation, Fernando Clavijo, on Wednesday.

Álvarez also stated that the archipelago must “step forward” as it is one of the autonomous communities most affected every time the Minimum Wage is raised, demonstrating that “collective bargaining is not functioning as well as it should.”

He urged for a strengthening of trade union organisation in the tourism and hospitality subsector, arguing that although significant progress has been made in the collective agreement of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, “we need to go further” and align closer to what has been established in the Balearic Islands.

In this context, he pointed out that the differences between the archipelagos arise from the fact that the Balearics have a single agreement and no “schemes set up by businesses to undermine the trade union movement.”

“If we had in the Canaries the representation we have in the Balearics, over 50 per cent, I can assure you that the collective agreements for the hospitality sector in the Canaries would not be what they are; we would improve significantly,” he explained.

He noted that the working hours in the hospitality sector in the Canaries are “a scandal” when workers in Navarra and Guipuzkoa work 37.5 hours a week and hotel prices “are not higher” than those in the archipelago. “There are hotel chains that have been doing very well and wish to continue that trend,” he added.

Regarding the commerce agreement, he claimed it is “another scandal” as it is “stalled” without a clear proposal due to the “division” within the employers’ associations.

Álvarez also expressed concern over families’ difficulties in accessing decent housing and questioned “which government” should be held accountable, given that the jurisdiction lies with the autonomous communities.

CALLS FOR ADVANCEMENTS IN HOUSING

However, he stated that the central government “must make progress” but “there is no way” to do so because whenever meetings occur, “some have a primary objective, which is the calling of elections,” making it “difficult.”

In the specific case of the Canaries, he remarked that “urban planning cannot only focus on building hotels in ‘macro tourist zones’ without including where the people who will work in these ‘macro tourist zones’ will reside,” advocating for land reserves to facilitate the construction of public housing.

He elaborated that someone working in southern Tenerife who has to live in the north, due to the “impossibility” of finding affordable housing, faces the impossible expectation of spending an extra 300 euros plus two hours of travel “on a salary of 1,200 or 1,300 euros.”

At the same time, he emphasised that it is “evident there needs to be a halt on holiday homes,” as although they are private property, “the provision of services is a matter of public interest, and thus a person cannot do whatever they want with their property; the state must guarantee its availability for its intended use.”