The Hotel and Extrahotel Association of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro, Ashotel, has expressed its regret this Thursday for «a certain interest in criminalizing the sector» by stating that «it refuses to negotiate and increase wages, assertions that translate into constant confrontation towards the sector that has been the driving force of the Canary Islands economy for decades.»
The association emphasized that the last two collective agreements signed in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (2018-2022 and 2022-2026) have increased wages in the hospitality sector (bars and restaurants and accommodation establishments) by a total of 20.5%, indicating that «it is totally false that wages are not increased» nor that the hotel association refuses to negotiate with the union representation, with whom they maintain open communication channels «constantly.»
It was the Canary Islands’ own president, Fernando Clavijo, who stated during the recent ‘State of the Nationality Debate,’ held this week in the Parliament of the Canary Islands, that wages in the hospitality sector in the islands have risen above the average, as recalled by the association in a note.
He even referred to a recent study by CCOO’s technical office in the Canary Islands, which places the wage increase in the archipelago in the period 2019-2023 at 9.2%, while in the hospitality agreement of the province of Tenerife, that increase has been 10.25% (2018-2022).
As a demonstration of the goodwill of the hotel entrepreneurs represented by Ashotel, they have gladly accepted the offer from the Canary Islands Government, through its Tourism Councillor, Jessica de León, to participate in a meeting with union representatives, at their request.
In this regard, it is believed that the Government is well aware that collective bargaining is a tool deployed between union and business representatives, so «political intervention, even with its commendable interest in helping, cannot resolve or impose anything,» it points out.
BUSINESS DEMANDS
In this line, the association details that in any negotiation, the different parties «win and lose, that’s what it’s about, finding the best agreement for all the groups involved.»
The negotiating committee of the collective agreement for the hospitality sector in the province of Tenerife, which on the union side has 10 representatives from Sindicalistas de Base, 3 from UGT, and 2 from CCOO, maintains constant dialogues and frequently exchanges proposals from both sides.
Therefore, the association believes that in a negotiation, it is not only the unions that make demands, «the business sector also has issues to negotiate and ask for, as it faces a series of problems that have already been highlighted on several occasions.»
Among these problems is the high rate of absenteeism (with data from 2023 and based on a study by a work accidents mutual; the sick leave rate in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was 10.08% compared to the national average of 5.58%); the union conflict filed over seniority, which is pending voting and judgment in the TSJC, following a lower court ruling against union interests, or the future adjustment that will have to be addressed due to the labor schedule reform, still undecided, but which could represent a 7% to 9% increase in personnel costs.
Additionally, Ashotel does not understand why available resources in private mutuals are not used to expedite tests and diagnoses and facilitate the recovery of workers on medical leave sooner.
Furthermore, in the sector’s daily operations, it is pointed out that there are no conflicts because the regulatory framework governing labor relations is in force and signed by both parties, but a series of circumstances and specific cases that hinder the proper development of tourism and are not the responsibility of the private sector.
Specifically, these are the major deficiencies that the island of Tenerife, in particular, faces in fundamental infrastructure such as housing, transportation, or mobility.
«It is in these areas that the public administration must urgently intervene, as it is already at least a decade late,» it states.
