The hotel sector in the Balearic Islands is alarmed at the call for an indefinite strike by community laundry workers, which could leave them without spare bedding, towels or table linen at the height of the high season. Most of the hotels and restaurants on the islands have outsourced this service, hence the concern about the consequences of these stoppages.
The workers in the laundry sector have agreed to go on strike in a vote that has been held this weekend in which the employer's offer has been rejected. This Monday there is a new meeting in the Court of Arbitration and Mediation of the Balearic Islands, but the workers assume that this Tuesday the indefinite strikes will begin, since they assure that their conditions are "exploitative".
The workers in the sector, some 1,500 in the Balearic Islands, are asking for a salary increase of up to 1,300 euros compared to the 1,080 they currently earn, the minimum wage, and they are willing to lower their demands on the condition that they can enjoy two free per week and not one, as most of the employees currently have.
That claim, that of the two days off, is the red line that the workers have set so as not to go on strike. They also ask to be able to rest for half an hour during the daily working day and, if the employer accepts these two conditions, they are willing to lower their economic demands to 1,250 euros.
The mediation of the Balearic Government has not worked for now and the strike arrives with the hotels in the Balearic Islands at 90% occupancy and with more than 1,000 daily flights that arrive or leave from all the airports in the community, with planes full of Germans and English who travel to the archipelago to enjoy their vacations.
As of this week, the peak occupancy period begins on the islands, with hotels full and with the threat of not being able to replace bed linen and towels, since the vast majority of tourist accommodation on the islands have outsourced the service laundry. Very few have this service on staff.
From the Hotel Federation of Mallorca they have avoided these days to pronounce on the labor conflict in the sector, but they have made calls for calm and have appealed for the parties to reach an agreement to avoid a strike that could have consequences for the image of the sector among the tourists who are on the islands. The Balearic Government has tried to mediate to suspend the strikes, but to date without success.
The strike does not affect the work that is provided in hospitals and nursing homes, which are guaranteed the replacement of linen and bathroom material without problems. The Balearic Government has approved some minimum services that guarantee that the strikes will not have consequences for these basic public services.
