The staff representatives of “UTE RELIMA” (the company responsible for household waste collection and street cleaning in MANILVA) announce that:
At the general assembly held on 30 May, after exhausting every attempt to reach an agreement on the signing of our first collective agreement with the company, which we have now been negotiating for almost 2 years, a vote was held and it was decided to call an indefinite strike starting at 22:00 on Sunday 14 July 2024.
We workers are aware of the harm that will be caused to the public if the strike goes ahead, but we cannot go on like this any longer: it has been 3 years under the contract and we have still not obtained any improvement.
The main reasons that have led us to take this decision are as follows:
1- After 3 years we still have no collective agreement.
2- Our wages have been frozen since the start of the contract.
3- The company has submitted a “price review” to the Town Hall, citing an increase in labour costs, and this has not been reflected in the slightest in the workers’ pay.
The company argues that the Town Hall has fined it FOR FAILING TO PROVIDE THE SERVICES CONTRACTED AND SET OUT IN THE TECHNICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE SPECIFICATIONS, and that for this reason the signing of our first collective agreement has been put on hold. We do not accept this reason and we do not understand what it has to do with us.
We workers continue to carry out our duties as we did on the first day, committing ourselves in every way. We all live in the municipality, and we care about its image and about the public being happy with our work.
4- We also wish to point out that the workforce is, on many occasions, working
under pressure (stressed) because of a lack of staff, machinery and speed in repairing that machinery, in order to be able to cover the services.
We believe all of this is due to the shortcomings of the specifications (Town Hall) and of the service organisation plan (Company). Because theory is one thing and practice is another.
If we add to all this the low wages we receive, we get what is happening with the summer reinforcement of 1st-grade driver operatives: 2 should have started in early June and not a single one has been found, as nobody will accept working in these conditions.
Having a collective agreement that regulates our rights and improving our wages are non-negotiable demands, and we therefore hope that our company will accept our legitimate claims.
We hope and trust that the public will understand us, empathise with our cause and support us in it. For that, we thank you in advance.
