SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, January 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The vice president of ‘Unión Kellys Tenerife’, María Noel Navas, has met with the Deputy for Equality of the Provincial Council, Beatriz Barrera, and has warned her that housekeepers work on the island with reduced staff and suffer a physical and mental exhaustion that forces them to self-medicate.
Navas explains in a note that the usual thing is for a waitress “to take two ibuprofens a day, in addition to anxiolytics and other medications” and adds that sick leave is not covered, which makes the situation even more stressful.
During the meeting, in which Mónica García, president of Unión Kellys Tenerife (by videoconference) and the advisor of the Provincial Council, Amanda Armas, were also present, it was stated that the workers are afraid to fight for their labor rights due to possible retaliation.
“There are many women from single-parent families and there is fear of losing the only income for the family,” she points out.
The waitresses also ask that the retirement age for their group be lowered to 58 years because the percentage of housekeepers who manage to reach retirement is tiny, due to the health problems they suffer from the conditions of their work.
Beatriz Barrera recalled that in 2018, the Provincial Council of the Commons opened an ex officio action on the situation of ‘Las Kellys’ addressed to the General Directorate of Labor of the Government of the Canary Islands at that time, who made the commitment to reverse this situation.
“Five years later there has been no progress. That is why I have requested a joint meeting with the Minister of Tourism and the General Director of Labor of the Government of the Canary Islands, to analyze the situation and seek solutions. At the same time, we will inform the Ombudsman of the sector demands that correspond to the Government of Spain,” he comments.
