Alex Trelinski
LIFEGUARDS serving six Palma beaches are to go on strike from this Sunday in a dispute over promised improvements made last year not happening.
The indefinite walkout will affect beaches at Platja de Palma, Cala Estancia, Ciutat Jardí, Portixol, Can Pere Antoni and Cala Major.
Lifeguard union secretary, Julian Delgado, said the entire workforce- around 45 workers in the low season and 60 in the high season- will leave beaches unsupervised until their employer Emergencies Setmil fulfills commitments made last summer.
One of the pledges was a salary increase but the beach safety franchise holder, Setmil has said it has not received enough money for that from Palma council.
Nevertheless, extra staff have been taken on and beach coverage started at the beginning of April as opposed to May.
Palma council has said that an ‘extraordinary payment’ has been made to Setmil to cover increased salaries, longer working hours, and more staff.
Julian Delgado also criticised the state of some of the 13 watchtowers used by lifeguards saying they were ‘not in good condition’ and that some even had ‘stairs missing’.
He added that basic accessibility measures like installing ramps onto beaches for wheelchair users has not taken place.
“All the agreements signed a year ago have been breached and no measures have been applied to improve the service,” claimed Delgado.
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