The social services, provided by Adhara, narrowly avoided disaster when a strike that was set for the 20th of November was called off.
Workers in the privately run association blame the Mayor for bringing the situation to the brink of strike action, which, by the way, was called off for the 20th but strike action is set to take place on the 2nd of this month.
Adhara is a social cooperative that provides home help services to the aged and infirm who are otherwise unable to care for themselves.
The problem is that the Town Hall has not been paying the cooperative the accorded sum, which the Town Hall receives in turn from the Junta de Andalucía. According to Adhara, their social workers, which includes doctors, nurses, first-aid workers and even hairdressers, have not received a penny in the last three months.
“The Town Hall is demonstrating a complete lack of consideration for the 33 employees,” said their spokesperson, “pointing out that these same workers provide home-care for nearly 100 people.”
The Mayor, on the other hands, laid the blame on Adhara for the present situation.
“You cannot say, if I don’t get my money then I won’t pay out,” he reasoned, referring the Adhara’s announcement that they couldn’t meet their salary obligations with their staff.
This situation has a certain reminiscent value as far as the rubbish-collector’s strike goes – the show down between the Town Hall and the rubbish-collecting company, Mirlo. No doubt, the people who receive home help from Adhara don’t want it to end the same way; i.e., with Adhara losing the battle.
However, the Mayor was surprised in the last plenary meeting of the Town Council when his seeming allies, the PP, put forward a motion for the company’s demands to be met, and not only that, but also for an agenda of payments to be made.
The spokesperson for the PP blamed the Mayor for not meeting the financial obligations of the Town Hall and, quoting from the Municipal Treasurer’s records, pointed out that Adhara had provided services to the value of 300,000 euros, far an above their obligations within the contract.
The PP also showed that the Junta de Andalucía had made all the necessary payments, but they had not been paid on.
The Mayor maintained that as Adhara has been working with the Town Hall for the last 15 years, they should ‘have the capacity’ to pay their workers. He described their inability to do so as ‘manifested business incapability.’
For those of you who didn’t know about these services and would like to contact Adhara, here is their contact information:
Adhara, Carrera de la Concepción Nº 3, Edf. Los Cactus Bajo Teléfonos 985 63 37 50 y 653 970 442