The workforce committee of the Home Help Service (SAD) at the Municipal Institute of Social Care (IMAS), comprising over 200 assistants in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, warned yesterday of potential mobilisations, protests, and demonstrations in the upcoming months. This follows concerns that the city council may once again award the contract to the current service provider, Atende, during the transition to a new service model by the year’s end, a process in which more than six entities have engaged.
The committee, which includes unions such as CC.OO, UGT, USO, CGT, and Intersindical Canaria, declared, “we do not rule out initiating strikes in protest to assert our rights as workers, which will ultimately lead to a reduction in services offered to the 1,200 elderly and dependent recipients of the SAD in the city.”
In a conversation with DIARIO DE AVISOS yesterday, the assistants expressed their exasperation with the inadequate working conditions imposed by the current service provider. Although the Councillor for Social Action, Charín González, acknowledges that they are not cleaners, the reality remains that over half of the services rendered to users, typically lasting 3 to 4 hours, focus on tasks that are not representative of their profession.
They further noted, “95% of those receiving assistance, particularly with bathing, decline to use this service, preferring instead for their homes to be cleaned. This occurs even though many reside with relatives, leading to deception regarding the city council’s provision. We are social health workers, yet we are being marketed as cleaners.”
Intersindical Canaria highlights that “another violation centres on the company’s failure to comply with the requirement for a 48-hour rest period. We sought a meeting with the company regarding this issue, which occurred last April. They proposed reducing the working hours to guarantee two days of rest. However, following the agreement’s signing, which was expected to commence this month, they now inform us it will be delayed until October.”
Additional grievances include “not receiving the minimum wage; undertaking extensive cleaning in environments infested with rats, fleas, cockroaches, and rubbish; not being acknowledged for work-related injuries when experiencing muscle cramps due to physical exertion; and the hiring of inexperienced intern coordinators to fulfil a crucial service role.”
