Around 2,000 women around Spain are fighting against the precariousness of the sector, made worse by the recent labor reform. As a sign of the movement’s success, a “Kellys Law” is to be debated in the Congress of Deputies. The third part of our series on social movements standing up to job insecurity in Europe.

They are aged between 45 and 55. Their normal day consists of preparing hotel rooms, making beds, cleaning bathrooms and getting everything ready to welcome tourists. All of that for a meager €2.50 per room, regardless of the level of luxury the establishment boasts.

Many of them are subcontracted, which deprives them of their most basic rights. They suffer from tendinitis, cartilage wear and tear, lumbar pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, stress and anxiety. The majority of them are women. They are part of group that is essential –but invisible– for the good functioning of the tourism sector in Spain.

For the last four years, some have called themselves ‘Las Kellys’, referring to the expression “those who clean hotels”. “We have been the most overlooked workers in the sector for many years. We have decided to step out of the shadows because our physical and mental situation is unbearable,” explains Eulalia Corralero, one of the main instigators of the movement, which has become one of the most original social movements in a country in the throes of a financial crisis.

It all started in 2014. Eulalia Corralero, together with María Ángeles, also a maid in the town of Lloret de Mar (province of Gerona, Catalonia), created a Facebook page. “It began as a simple discussion forum, a therapy group in which we shared our experiences,” she recalls. Today, over 10,000 women form part of this online group. The diversity of the movement is of particular surprise. Women from Maghreb, Poland and Bulgaria are among the active members of the movement. Some of them are staying illegally in Spain.

Face to face meetings are held in 8 of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions in order to reflect on the different ways in which social and employment rights can be defended. “We could say that our main success to date has been achieving the movement’s continuance. At the beginning, many thought that we would burnout quickly and that we were just a group of illiterates. But, well, they were wrong,” says Eulalia Corralero with delight.

Las Kellys made themselves known through protests that left an impression on many Spaniards. Shortly after their launch, they organized multiple protests, wearing their green shirts that indicate the corresponding association, at the doors of luxury hotels. They appeared on the front page of the main Spanish newspapers and were even guests on tv shows. Some of them, employed through subcontracts, were fired after participating in the overnight mobilization. Since then, many are afraid to speak about the situation in public.

Their action tactics have now progressed, appearing in court to achieve small victories. “To date, the judges have ruled in our favor on 98% of the claims brought,” says Myriam Barros, president of the organization ‘Las Kellys Verdes’, in an interview with Mediapart. Myriam Barros doesn’t work as a hotel maid, but she strongly empathizes with the battle that aims to achieve dignified working conditions. “There are 100,000 hotel maids in Spain, 2,000 of which are registered with our association. The problem is that many don’t want to stand out, because they don’t want to end up on the black list, which means never working in the sector again. I joined the fight because, unlike them, I don’t have anything to lose,” says Myriam Barros.

An important aspect in understanding how the fight progressed: Las Kellys emerged without the support of trade unions. “They ignored our situation. They didn’t lift a finger to help us change it,” laments Eulalia Corralero. After our media success, the same unions tried to incorporate us, but we are stronger as an independent collective. Due to a question of pragmatism, as well as being realistic, we agreed to work with them, as they know the law and company articles of association better than we do.”

The negotiations with the unions have split the Las Kellys movement: Las Kellys Verdes, an association incorporated in 2016, and Las Kellys Confederadas. The first rejects negotiations of any kind with the unions, while the latter keeps a more open mind on the matter. Despite their differences, both associations fight for the same cause: bringing an end to job insecurity in the sector, exacerbated by the 2008 financial crisis and the 2012 labor code reform.

“They are fighters”

“Most of the members of the movement are women over 50 years old who had stable working conditions before the financial crisis struck. Their conditions got gradually worse, up to the point that we can talk of exploitation,” says Ernest Cañada, a specialist on social matters and author of the essay Las que Limpian los Hoteles (Those who Clean Hotels), published in 2014. Many of them have been replaced, mainly by immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Maghreb and Eastern Europe.

Myriam Barros believes the financial crisis was “an excuse to steal our employment rights”. In fact, the tourism sector in Spain hasn’t even experienced this or any other crisis. 2017 was a record-breaking year, with 82 million tourists choosing to come to Spain.

Ángela Muñoz, a 55-year-old hotel maid and spokeswoman of Las Kellys of Madrid, has first-hand experience of the deterioration. “After the job cuts carried out by many hotel chains, we found ourselves out of work. We went from one subcontractor to another,” she says, bitterly.

“We signed four-hour contracts, when we were actually working eight. We often worked on our knees, with neither a trolley nor cleaning products. We never knew what our day off was, as the company could call us at any time if a room was booked at the last minute, for example,” says Ángela Muñoz. According to her, a hotel maid working in a four-star establishment has to clean 400 rooms a month to earn €800-900.

As such, bringing an end to outsourcing has become one of her main goals. As proof of the effectiveness of her strategy, her demands are now on the agenda of the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Spanish parliament. A ‘Kellys Law’, which has been placed on the parliamentary agenda, aims to prevent companies from resorting to external companies for all jobs that form part of their core activity.

The text also envisages wage rises, recognition of occupational risks and professional health conditions –carpal tunnel syndrome is currently the only condition recognized in the sector–, the possibility of early retirement and the obligation to provide employees with a work timetable.

The Employment and Social Security Committee of the Congress will study the bill in the forthcoming weeks. Regarding said Committee, Alberto Rodríguez, spokesman for the political party, Unidas Podemos, has said: “the debate is on hold, just like most of the Congress’ other legislative activities, due to the veto against Mariano Rajoy’s government”. Could the fight of these women change outsourcing as we know it in the hospitality sector? “The pressure of these workers seems strong enough to push the dossier on. We need renewed movement from the Socialist Party [PSOE], which will help to resume the debate.”

In 2016, the PSOE submitted a bill of law that aimed to amend an article in the Statute of Workers Rights. The socialists wanted to guarantee equal pay between women who work in the cleaning sector as part of the in-house staff of hotels and those who work through subcontractors. However, the PP, the conservative rightwing People’s Party, and Ciudadanos, a center-right party, blocked the legislative initiative. From now on, the demands of Las Kellys go even further: they want to stop companies from outsourcing employees for jobs that form part of their core activity. They have the support of Unidas Podemos (69 out of 350 deputies), but the PSOE could also support the initiative in the following weeks.

What is the movement’s current state of play? Beyond the ongoing political discussions, one of Las Kellys’ main triumphs came in February 2018 in the form of a decision handed down by the Supreme Court of Justice of Catalunya. A maid filed an appeal in a dismissal case in 2013 against a large hotel chain. In this case, not only did the court declare the dismissal to be invalid, but it also ruled the use and abuse of outsourcing to be illegal. After a four-year battle, the judge deemed it necessary for legislators to establish limits. In other words, it considered changing the law to be the only solution,”, the lawyer for Las Kellys, Eulalia García, says contently.

In their battle, Las Kellys have also supported and formed ties with other social causes and collectives. They claim, for example, that the precariousness of the sector is closely connected to being women. The group’s lawyer believes that companies are taking advantage of women who, in their eyes, “are submissive and won’t have the strength to fight”. But, in reality, it’s quite the opposite. “Las Kellys have shown that they are fighters. They are women who demand their rights. It’s the perfect example of the demands made by a collective that has, until now, been completely invisible”.

To denounce the “feminization of poverty” is in the group’s DNA. “There’s no doubt that our situation is worse due to being women. We face discrimination in the distribution of roles, allocated according to gender, class and origin.” To anyone still in doubt, Ángela Muñoz says: “Women should put their fears to one side. As I always say, everything can be sorted out with a two-day strike. Without maids in hotels, there are no clean rooms. Without clean rooms, there are no clients.”