CCOO calls for ambulance services to be monitored and says the Canary Islands Health Service should take over if no deal is reached before September

Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) is calling on the Canary Islands Government to monitor the companies contracted to provide ambulance services. It is also urging the Canary Islands Health Service to take over the service if employers and unions fail to reach an agreement before the September deadline. The union warns that the deadlock over the fourth collective agreement could affect the new tender and perpetuate a model which, it says, is marked by breaches, irregularities, unlawful practices and extremely poor working conditions. CCOO is maintaining its strike and says it will step up its action if no agreement is reached.

The previous contract for ambulance services in the Canary Islands ran for four years, with two one-year extensions, and ended on 31 December. Since 1 January, the service has been operating under an exceptional nine-month extension permitted by the Public Sector Contracts Act because it is an essential service. That period ends in September. If new employment and pay conditions have not been agreed by then, the tender could be issued at below the service’s actual cost.

This is one of the workers’ main concerns, Enrique Espí, CCOO’s ambulance sector lead in the Canary Islands, said on the La Voz de Fuerteventura programme on Radio Insular.

He described the “deadlock” at the negotiating table, which was set up last year. “We’ve made virtually no progress,” he said, apart from agreeing that the collective agreement would run for five years.

At the meeting, CCOO delegate Carlos González joined Gabriel Rodríguez, secretary-general of CCOO’s Island Union in Fuerteventura, and Victoriano Mederos, the island delegate for the Federation of Services to Citizens. They made improving working conditions a priority for employees who earn the national minimum wage and whose payslips list them as “transport workers and stretcher-bearers”, even though “they are healthcare technicians” who “save lives”.

CCOO is therefore calling for a 21% pay increase to make up for accumulated losses in purchasing power, a further 4% rise afterwards, and conditions to be set through to 2030.

It is also seeking a gradual reduction in working hours, improvements to holiday and leave arrangements and allowances, and formal recognition of healthcare technicians’ professional status.

“We need this to be agreed before September so the authorities can put out an updated public tender that does not undervalue the service,” Espí said.

The union says the employers’ association is refusing to give ground and is “blocking” negotiations.

Espí says the five companies contracted to provide the service in the Canary Islands are linking anything that “costs them money” to a “supposed addendum” from the authorities. He criticises the employers for claiming that the authorities have not guaranteed the funding, while the authorities say they cannot allocate funding for the service without a prior agreement.

The union insists that pay is not the only issue and is calling on the Government to monitor the service being provided.

CCOO says it has been reporting breaches, irregularities and unlawful practices by the contracted companies for three or four years. It says the authorities are “not doing the monitoring work they should” to check that the companies are complying with their public contracts.

The alleged problems include 24-hour shifts without proper rest periods; ambulances that should be staffed by a driver and a technician but operate with only one person, despite the contractor being paid for two; shortages of equipment and medication; and vehicles in poor condition. The union also cited ambulances in which exhaust gases enter the patient compartment, doors that will not open and vehicles without air conditioning.

Espí believes that if the service continues to be run by external companies without adequate oversight, “the historic problem” will recur with every collective agreement.

Geographical spread and just two advanced life-support ambulances for the whole island

In Fuerteventura, union representatives warn that the situation is made worse by the island’s geographical spread and long distances.

The island has around 115 workers, seven basic life-support units and two advanced life-support units, they said. They consider this insufficient for a population that has grown considerably in recent years.

CCOO representatives warned that response times in municipalities such as Betancuria can reach an hour or more. They called for a proper assessment of the island’s needs and a permanently stationed ambulance in Antigua.

The strike is already under way, with weekly stoppages. CCOO has not ruled out stepping up its action if there is no progress.

If no agreement is reached before September, the union is urging the Canary Islands Health Service to take over the service to safeguard both workers’ rights and the quality of an essential public service.