The main reason, according to the trade unions, is that employers are refusing to discuss the wage increase in the hospitality agreement, which they describe as ‘nonsense and irresponsible when they are earning more than ever, tourist spending records are being broken and forecasts are on the rise’, according to José Luís García, who adds other reasons: ‘in other sectors linked to tourism, such as transport and Son Sant Joan airport, working conditions are precarious, with enormous workloads due to a lack of staff and salaries that are out of step with the standard of living in the region’.
For Pedro Homar: 'it is incomprehensible that they refuse to even consider a wage increase in this scenario. It is time to demand that tourism is not only the driving force behind the economy, but also the well-being of workers.’
Negotiations for the new Balearic hospitality agreement are reaching a decisive moment in a new meeting called for this Wednesday, with the positions of the unions and employers further apart than ever and a climate of growing tension. After two months of fruitless talks and four formal meetings, representatives of the UGT and CCOO unions have already warned that, if no significant progress is made, they will call for immediate protests and even a strike at the start of the high season.
One of the issues at stake between employers and unions is the reduction of the working day, whose approval has been delayed by the government for a week due to the blackout. For José Luís García, the employers' opposition ’is based on a neoliberal dogma that does not become true simply because it is repeated over and over again. Labour reform, pension reform and the increase in the minimum wage were supposed to sink Spain, but not only has this not happened, they have helped to improve productivity, which is the big problem facing the Spanish economy’. According to Homar, “the reduction of the working day is an inevitable path that employers will have to take”.
One of the main demands of the trade unions for 1 May is the implementation of interventionist policies that promote access to affordable housing for workers: ‘Speculators must be removed from the market to guarantee the right to housing and ensure that it ceases to be a speculative commodity.’ To this end, Homar called for ‘consensus among all parties so that they all pull in the same direction, because this is not about ideology but about pragmatism.’
The UGT and CCOO unions have called for a joint demonstration on 1 May in Palma, which will leave Plaza España at 11:30 a.m. and march along the avenues, ending with a party in the Parc de la Mar. The demonstration in Maó will start at Plaça de la Explanada (12 noon), while the rally in Ibiza will be held in Parque de la Paz (12 noon).
In addition to access to decent housing, the trade unions have plenty of reasons to take to the streets this May Day. Homar listed some of them: ‘tourist saturation without any improvement in the quality of life of workers; increasing workloads; wages that are out of step with the cost of living; wage discrimination for the same work; civil servants earning a thousand pounds a month; the failure to reduce workplace accidents; and immigration as a problem rather than an opportunity for the future’.
‘This is not just about improving working conditions, but also living conditions, especially when Trump and his far-right friends want to destroy the welfare state in Europe,’ said García.
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Charles Dalrymple-ChumleyYeah they should just leave it to the politicians and hoteliers to run things as they've done such a good job.
The protests against Tourists will reduce the numbers coming on holiday. Therefore all businesses will have a big drop in their revenues. It follows that their profits will equally drop. Causing no pay increases.for their employees.
I don't know about you but unions protesting against the lucrative market from which the unions' members make their living seems pretty dumb to me. Unions almost never understand the complexities and economics of running a profitable business and almost always expect employers to pay more to their members for less productivity. When they wake up and decide to work with employers rather than against them their members will be better off.