Sexual harassment and inaction: home care workers prepare to strike.

From today until August 30, our reception will be closed after lunch. Unless you have an urgent matter that you have warned the coordinator about in advance so that we can prepare everything. Thank you for your understanding and sorry for the temporary inconvenience.

This is the message that the female employees of the Home Help Service (SAD) in Santa Cruz have been receiving for a month and a half from Atende, which is our contractor.

These messages, where only the dates change, make our employees feel abandoned and forgotten. The fact is that the department that deals with sick leave, salaries, and cases of sexual harassment (and unfortunately, they happen by the people our employees help at home) is almost not working.

Our employees are already tired and scared. In addition, the head of the service and some of the coordinators are currently on vacation. And the city council, which is the main organization, is not paying attention to us, said Cristina González, a representative of the Intersindical Canaria (IC) trade union in the SAD production committee.

González added that something bad is happening in the service, and our assistants do not even know who to turn to. Therefore, they come to the production committee, but we can do little because there are issues that are not within our competence. For example, if there is an accident at work, they cannot contact the insurance company because there is no one to draw up a report from the company. And if something happens at home, such as sexual harassment, we can only advise the employee to refuse to provide the service. Because without coordination, it is almost impossible to prove the complaint.

The reception coordinates the work of employees, helps them, and advises them on various issues. Therefore, this is a very important part of our service. "Coordinators are overloaded, and due to the closure of the reception, we cannot get a travel ticket, process documents, or solve problems that arise at work. And some of them are very serious, such as cases of harassment or sexual violence, which, unfortunately, happen. We feel helpless and confused," says González.

SAD employees working at Atende help about 1,300 people in need in Santa Cruz. They come home to help with hygiene, nutrition, accompaniment, or cleaning. Cleaning must be paid for separately, but, according to the employees, the employer does not do this.

But the most important thing is the sexual harassment that some employees experience from the people they help. "Since the beginning of the year, there have been seven cases of harassment and one case of sexual violence, when a man touched one of the assistants' breasts. In addition, there are cases when they are asked to watch porn with them, paint their lips, or show their genitals. This happened last week in Los Campitos," they add.

"The worst thing is that the company continues to send assistants to these people who are harassing and does not suspend the provision of services. The only exception is one case of relapse in recent months. Atende and the city council are doing nothing to help us. The only ones who support us are the production committee, but they also do not have enough resources," said Cristina González.

The Equality Commission of the SAD production committee expressed its concern about the increase in cases of sexual harassment among assistants, as well as the company's failure to respond to these complaints due to the fact that the reception is not working. "Recently, our colleague was killed in Galicia because of this. Does another tragedy have to happen here for something to finally be done?"

Next month, employees at the meeting will decide whether to support the announced strike in the Home Help Service to protect their rights.