Tenerife Workers on Strike

The Canary Islands are a popular destination. The nature is beautiful, the weather is an absolute blast every time. But people who live from tourism - lots of people - are very much exploited. The hospitality service is suffocating, and the hospitality service workers were on strike for two days. How do I know this? I was right there in the middle.

The Easter holidays have just started in Europe.

Many of us are in vacation mode and enjoying the few days off, except those who work in hospitality. We work harder while the rest relax.

But this time, I got my sweet vacation days and spent some time with my family in Tenerife. It was sugar and spice and everything nice until a note appeared in the elevator. They will have a two-day strike, and it's going to be noisy.

I loved it. I felt like life came back to me, and I was about to investigate this.

In the morning, we all got an early wake-up call with whistles, drums, honks, and people chanting in Spanish.

Their voice is loud and clear!

The dining hall was a chaos, with paper plates, no warm food, and no service. But who is hungry when there are plenty of things to do?

I grabbed a pen and paper, and my phone, and was off to an adventure again.

I found a guy in the crowd, I was talking to a waiter, someone who works in the kitchen, the receptionist, and talked with a manager.

Here is what I found.

Hospitality workers wanted to get a raise and better working conditions. The suggestion was a 6% raise, which is pretty average, and barely follows the inflation in Spain.

The union declined, and they decided to fight and protest for their better future.

Their hourly wage is from 8 to 10 euros, and the working hours are crazy. Sometimes they have to work four hours in the morning and four hours at night. It makes no sense if you happen to have a family.

They are asked to work more but not get paid for their time, there are health risks — lots of back problems — that are not getting the proper care.

They carry all the weight literally and figuratively, and live from paycheck to paycheck.

They are on the streets now!

It's not fair at all!

After the two-day strike, the hospitality workers did not get their raise. The strike caused no damage, and they returned to be exploited for the next season.

Life is like that…