Tenerife Unions Challenge €4.5M Recreational Area Outsourcing.

Unions representing workers at the Tenerife Island Council are challenging a 4.5 million euro contract given to the company Gesplan. The contract is for managing the island's twenty recreational areas. The Public Employees Union (Sepca) has officially appealed the decision to the Administrative Court of Public Contracts of the Canary Islands. The Works Council for Labor Personnel, where Sepca holds the most seats, strongly criticizes this move, calling it "the outsourcing of public services."

The Works Council is now waiting for a meeting with Juan Manuel Santana, the Director of Human Resources, and Blanca Pérez, the Councilor for Natural Environment, before deciding on their next steps.

Francisco Millán, president of the committee, said they learned about the contract from technicians, which came as a surprise. He explained that just last year, they had negotiated new public job roles, including positions for recreational area rangers, as part of an update to the official List of Job Positions (RPT). "That's why we asked for a meeting, but they're delaying us," Millán stated. He added that they had clearly told the Council not to award the contract, but "they ignored us." Millán emphasized that all union groups supported holding the meeting and taking legal action, believing there are "sufficient public resources" to do the work in-house.

Alejandro Dorta, representing the CGT union, echoed these concerns, highlighting a growing disconnect between the island's Human Resources department and the unions.

Juan Enciso, Sepca's representative on the Works Council, who drafted the appeal and internal staff communications, pointed out the shortage of environmental operators at the Island Council. He explained that it took many years to create a reserve list for these roles, which has been empty since 2014. Enciso admitted that the previous administration, led by the PSOE party, had also contracted Gesplan to manage the recreational areas because there was no available list of public employees.

However, Enciso said that a "commitment was reached during general negotiations" to bring the management of these recreational areas back in-house once the selection process for environmental operators was finished and a new reserve list was ready. The previous contract with Gesplan ended on December 31st last year. Enciso stressed that "we have more than 100 people who passed a very difficult competitive exam for a permanent position but still don't have a job." He noted that initially there were 47 such positions, later increased to 55.

Enciso recalled a technical meeting where Councilor Blanca Pérez told him her intention was to keep outsourcing the recreational areas. "I replied that we would be against it," he said. The Sepca representative expressed surprise that she then awarded the 4.5 million euro contract. He believes it's "unfair" that with 39 funded positions already listed in the RPT for hiring public employees, she "unilaterally decided to give it to Gesplan."

Juan Enciso strongly supports public employment and opposes outsourcing services, which he calls "unjustified" in this situation. This sentiment is clearly stated in the appeal, which he noted had to be filed within two months of the contract award "to prevent it from becoming a done deal with no chance of reversal." Enciso also highlighted that since 2022, the Island Council has awarded Gesplan 70 contracts totaling 84 million euros. He mentioned that they had asked Human Resources for a report confirming that hiring practices met principles of equality, merit, and capability, and also questioned the hiring conditions and selection process for Gesplan's own employees.

The Island Council declined to comment yesterday.

The Works Council for Labor Personnel represents around 500 of the 1,900 direct employees at the Tenerife Island Council. (The total staff, including those in related organizations, is 7,500). Francisco Millán of the UGT union chairs the committee, which has 17 representatives: 5 from UGT, 5 from Sepca, 4 from CCOO, 2 from CGT, and 1 from Unión por los Laborales. New union elections to renew the committee are scheduled for April, though a specific date has not yet been set.