The Minister of Tourism and Employment, Jessica de León, has issued an order regarding the minimum services required during the strike organised in the hospitality sector in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, set for this Thursday and Good Friday. This comes in response to the walkout called by the hospitality unions.
The order stipulates that for housekeeping and cleaning services, there shall be a minimum staffing level of 15% per shift and day. For reception and advisory services, 25% of the staff is mandated per establishment, shift and day. Maintenance roles will also require 25% of the workforce per establishment. Furthermore, restaurants must assemble a buffet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, ensuring a minimum of 15% of staff is available each day per establishment, shift, and day. A similar 15% staffing requirement is applied in the kitchen.
This measure follows the unions’ decision on Tuesday to issue an ultimatum to the hospitality employers of Tenerife: to accept their salary demands or face a full strike on Thursday and Good Friday.
The Ministry’s determination of minimum services references the 1977 labour relations regulations, which state that “when a strike is declared in companies that provide any form of public services or those that are indispensable, and in cases of special gravity, the governmental authority may take necessary actions to ensure service continuity.”
In this instance, the Ministry highlights that the strike aligns with Easter week, when occupancy rates are approximately 95% and involves families with children and individuals with disabilities, thus justifying the need to retain cleaning, maintenance, and security services, while ensuring these minimums do not infringe upon the right to strike.
The unions continue to demand a salary increase of no less than 6.25% for this year and have dismissed the latest offer from the hotel employers (Ashotel) and their counterparts in catering (Aero). A new meeting, convened on Tuesday afternoon, aimed to resolve the disagreement and avert the strike. This stalemate is in stark contrast to the province of Las Palmas, where employers and the CCOO and UGT unions reached an agreement last Saturday, suspending the strike there.
The latest proposal from Ashotel, which suggested a 5% salary rise, was turned down by the unions, who remain steadfast in their demands. On Tuesday morning, a meeting in Adeje called by the primary union—more influential in the western province—saw significant participation and a unanimous rejection of the employers’ proposal made the previous afternoon.
The Response from Workers’ Commissions
In response, Workers’ Commissions issued a statement addressing the Ministry of Tourism and Employment’s announcement.
They contend that the decisions made indicate that, within the tourism sector, actions serve the hoteliers, and they claim that, although tourism is the principal economic activity in the Canary Islands and deemed “irreplaceable,” it does not constitute “an essential activity.”
Moreover, they describe the decree on minimum services as “serious and highly disproportionate,” stating it rests upon “generic and alarmist justifications without detailed assessment or careful consideration of the real damage inflicted upon workers’ rights.”
“The imposition of minimum services in the hospitality sector during the scheduled strike represents a restriction that is illegitimate, disproportionate, and legally unviable as it contravenes fundamental rights acknowledged and protected by the Spanish Constitution. We will pursue this matter in the courts,” they concluded.
