The Federation of Citizen Services of Comisiones Obreras Canarias (FSC-CCOO) has described the current situation of the ambulance conflict in the islands as "alarming" following a new protest day outside the Presidency in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The union accuses the Ministry of Health of "violating collective bargaining" and keeping the agreement negotiations "blocked."
The coordinator of the ambulance sector for CCOO in Canarias, Enrique Espí, stated that there has been no official contact with the Minister of Health, neither before nor during the current conflict. "From Comisiones Obreras and the strike committee, there has been no contact," he said.
FSC-CCOO warns that if the Ministry has held meetings with the contracting companies outside of the social partners, a "parallel negotiation" could be taking place, potentially limiting future collective agreement talks. The union believes this situation "compromises the right to collective bargaining" for healthcare transport workers.
The union reminds that healthcare transport is an essential public service, even though the provision is largely handled by private companies (between 85% and 90%). Therefore, they demand that the Ministry of Health and the Government of Canarias take responsibility and act to unblock negotiations.
Healthcare transport personnel have accumulated a 25% loss in purchasing power, a situation the union deems "incompatible" with the essential nature of the service. They demand that labor and salary improvements be addressed this year and reject postponements until 2027 or 2028, calling for a salary update in 2026.
FSC-CCOO announces that it will maintain the mobilizations and gatherings called for on the different islands until a "real solution" to the agreement's deadlock is offered. "We will continue making noise until a solution is found by the Government," concluded the union representative.
