From 2025, workers in tourist rental housing will earn the same salary as their peers in hotels. For some people, this could mean an increase of up to 50% in salary. Next year, the UGT will demand in the negotiation of the Hotel and Catering agreement the participation of an employer by the holiday rental associations of the Balearic Islands. The union will demand that the conditions of the agreement also apply to workers engaged in cleaning, gardening or maintenance of tourist accommodation. This will have an economic impact on both homeowners and cleaning companies. This has been announced by José García Relucio, general secretary of the federation of Services of UGT in the Balearic Islands, in declarations granted to Diario de Mallorca. The union leader has pointed out that it is “a battle won“, since the collective agreement already contemplates the “tourist holiday homes“, although this point was not fulfilled. In fact, García Relucio has pointed out that this was already contemplated for a decade in collective agreements, but that the exponential growth of tourist homes has motivated the union to put the focus on respecting the rule. According to UGT representatives, the main impact of this measure has to do with the fact that wages in the cleaning sector are far below what hotel workers earn. “Tourist rentals decorate their homes either with companies or with self-employed or uninsured cleaning women to whom they pay the minimum wage, which constitutes a breach of the regulations that harms these workers, and the coffers of Social Security, as well as incurring unfair competition,” UGT has denounced on its website.
Values
Workers in the cleaning sector could earn 50% more if they are paid according to what is charged in the hotel sector. Holiday homes would fall under level C of the agreement (the same as one-star hotels). At this level, a chambermaid earns a gross salary of 2,027 euros per month. On the other hand, today the Cleaning agreement pays 1,387 euros per month. For those who hire independent professionals and not a cleaning company, the value of the agreement is even lower: 1,323 euros gross per month.
