Initially, representatives of the officers in both cities had refused to work overtime as a pressure tactic due to existing labor conflicts. However, after reaching agreements with their respective city councils, the unions have reversed their stance.
In Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the City Council approved a declaration of special dedication for the Local Police, Firefighters, and Mobility Agents, setting productivity amounts for those participating in the operation. The Councilor for Human Resources, Esther Martín, stated that "a clear remuneration framework agreed upon with union representatives is guaranteed." The union federations, despite "distrust due to years of delays and non-compliance," believe they must rise to the occasion of "an extraordinary and historic event for the city."
The Las Palmas council will pay pending overtime hours for 2024 and 2025 in June and has increased the budget for extraordinary productivity shifts. This payment of outstanding debts, which initially led to the refusal, was key to the change of opinion. The administration has committed to regularizing payments by July, leading the unions to give a vote of confidence.
Meanwhile, union representatives for the Local Police in Santa Cruz de Tenerife have followed a similar path. Following a meeting with the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez, the situation was clarified, and pending labor improvements have been scheduled for a negotiation table in the coming weeks. At the end of April, unions had refused to reinforce the papal security detail due to a lack of progress in negotiations with the Human Resources department, led by Purificación Dávila Carreira.
Pope León XIV's visit to the Canary Islands is set to be the largest security and emergency deployment in its history, with the Ministry of the Interior sending 2,500 police officers from the mainland to bolster the operation on both capital islands. This apparent social peace in the Archipelago contrasts with the situation in Madrid, where unions maintain their refusal to work overtime.
