In the docks of Las Palmas Port, two parallel realities have taken hold, moving at opposite speeds. On one side, an entrenched trade union aristocracy with privileged salaries has a direct impact on logistics costs and, ultimately, the final price paid by families in the Canary Islands. This power structure has managed to preserve a Francoist status inherited from Falange, tracing its historical roots back to the corporatist architecture of entrenched rights. On the other side, in the administrative offices of the Port Authority, dozens of families of civil servants and contract staff are experiencing an invisible toll through prolonged medical leave and complaints of alleged moral harassment that internal bureaucracy has been unable to explain the origin of, let alone to disclose the report by Puertos del Estado on the reasons behind this crisis.
And that is because the trade union headquarters at Las Palmas Port have not been asking why or how the Association of Port Stevedores (ASEP) was granted €4,449.69 by the Government of Madeira for “sustainable management of natural spaces” and €10,579.25 for “community support.” Not to mention the money the Cabildo de Gran Canaria has injected in 2024 into the social arm Fundación Belén María for a swimming race with €15,000, as well as €20,000 for a project called “Tu eliges.” Is the right-leaning stevedore faction in Las Palmas, besides being supportive of the Christmas baskets in 2025, also managing natural parks in Madeira? According to Fundación Belén María, this 2026 is the year it receives the Puertos de Las Palmas Foundation award—of which ASEP is a ‘patron’.
While the so-called right-leaning stevedores of Las Palmas—earning €8,800 net per month in salaries—defend influence quotas that extend as far as Madeira, medical leave for psychological reasons is piling up in files at the Las Palmas Port Authority. Here you can read the 22 July 2026 statement from the most influential trade union headquarters in Las Palmas.
The parity paradox in the harassment committee
The simmering unease among employees of the Port Authority has reached a new point of friction following the release of a joint statement by CCOO, CSIF, and UGT. Representatives of the Health and Safety Committee have expressed their reservations about the Prevention and Response Protocol for Harassment imposed by management under Francisco Trujillo and by the presidency of Beatriz Calzada. The trade union headquarters point to the lack of independence of the Psychosocial Intervention Commission (CIP), the entity responsible for assessing harassment complaints within the public body.
According to the workers’ representation, senior management has designed an asymmetrical body in which workers’ representation is reduced to a single prevention delegate, compared with two representatives from the employer side. The CIP also includes the same external consulting firm or entity tasked with preparing the preliminary technical report. This dual role turns the outside evaluator into judge and party within the same procedure, undermining the impartiality required of a mental health protection protocol.
Retaliation and lack of trust in company channels
Signing unions argue that no procedure against psychological violence is effective if staff do not trust the people who must implement the decisions. The move to restrict union presence on the commission casts doubt on principles such as neutrality and the absence of conflicts of interest, which are essential for a harassment victim to dare to activate the official channel without fear of workplace retaliation. The controversy over the protocol reflects a struggle for control of internal governance. While frontline workers accumulate sick leave due to a climate of pressure and institutional abandonment, the right-leaning stevedore faction focuses on preserving its institutional weight in the administrative leadership. The gap between the sector’s privileged stevedoring salaries and the day-to-day deterioration suffered by employees at the port enclave exposes fault lines in a model of labor relations stuck in its own opulence.
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