The labor conflict at the Municipal Cleaning Service of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has intensified with a strike notice for June 26 and July 31. The decision was made this Tuesday by the assembly, which included representatives from the three company committees of the department dependent on the City Council. Employees oppose the conversion of the department into a new public company, named Sociedad Municipal de Higiene Urbana, which could alter the working conditions of employees with decades of service.
These notices are just the beginning of a social mobilization that public service employees plan to undertake. The call coincides with the next two municipal plenaries and, they assure, will be accompanied by demonstrations in Plaza de Santa Ana during the ordinary sessions of both months.
The decision was made after a meeting between the representatives of the company committees of the City Council, Road Cleaning, and Waste Collection, and Francisco Hernández Spínola, councilor for Presidency, Finance, Modernization, Human Resources, and Water. While the workers expressed distrust towards the governing group, the corporation issued a statement calling the dialogue successful, a claim refuted by the assembly's outcome.
“"We have warned of what could come with this change, and the reality is that there is a lot of tension among the staff right now."
The central point of contention is the conversion of the Municipal Cleaning Service, established in 1985, into a public company, similar to the problematic Geursa and Sociedad de Promoción. Employees fear that this initiative by the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council will have immediate consequences for the staff, as, despite verbal assurances, there is no certainty about how the operation will unfold once completed.
Furthermore, workers point out that the financial management model of the new company could lead to problems similar to those of Sociedad de Promoción, which required a two-million-euro injection to avoid dissolution due to management issues. Faced with this scenario, employees have decided to take legal action if the corporation's plan, driven by Carolina Darias's government and intended to be finalized before August, proceeds.
Tuesday's assembly saw high participation, with over 300 employees attending. Only those integrated into programs of the Municipal Institute for Training and Employment, who are not part of the cleaning service, were active on the streets of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The work stoppages planned for the coming months were supported by virtually all attendees at the assembly, with no votes against and four abstentions.
The coming weeks are expected to be tense within the Service, with workers expressing significant dissatisfaction with the Councilor for Cleaning, Héctor Alemán, whom they accuse of exhibiting "not only bad intentions but also bad manners" in his dealings with the workers' representation.
