They are informed about the service in the afternoon, just before bedtime. They have to wake up, go on a trip, and “remain available” until they move on to their next route. It may or may not be several hours later. Many end up being “abandoned” at Gran Canaria Airport, waiting on buses without being able to return home. And if some incident delays the tourist’s arrival at his final mission, he must continue there, no matter how long the delay is.
In total, the working hours per day can be 11, 12, or even 13 hours. And in these conditions, “no mediation, no digital disconnection, no gym…this is no life for workers,” laments a Fuerteventura driver.
Six Alsa company drivers interviewed by Canarias Ahora, who agreed to speak anonymously, report similar work realities. Excessive workload, lack of planning that prevents employees from knowing the next day’s itinerary until 7 or 8 p.m., poor condition of vehicles, unfair compensation for overtime, retaliation when complaints are made…
They are employees of the former Grupo 1844. The company is a ‘leading’ company for discretionary transport on the island (excursions, school trips and tourist transport) with more than 1,500 employees and a fleet of 700 buses and is based in Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and La Palma. The company was acquired by Arsa in 2024, marking another step by the national mobility giant to expand its influence in the Canary Islands. islands.
They point out that the company is losing momentum to other competitors in the space, including global ones, because of the “disruption.” Internal communications have revealed that the group is offering a €300 reward to workers who recommend drivers for its service. Officials have threatened to go on strike if the situation does not improve. “People aren’t seeing their families,” they confess.
In response to specific questions posed by this editorial team, Alsa recognizes that these issues concern “the organization of work and the working conditions of workers,” but that these issues “have their own scope for discussion and negotiation, a relationship that management regularly maintains with the legal representatives of workers represented in labor committees.”
The group therefore refuses to answer the questions, assuring that the questions are part of the “normal dialogue process” between the company and its employees and “will not be made public or subject to information” on their part. It also said that “all companies” within the group “strictly comply with all laws regulating this sector, applicable collective agreements and agreements with works councils.”
And he concluded by saying that the company had “always” been “responsive” to workers’ requests and suggestions, thanks to a “spirit of dialogue” that some drivers, at least in the islands, question.
One of the main criticisms focuses on slow schedule assignments. Employees say they typically receive the next day’s itinerary around 8 p.m., giving them little time to rest as they are notified of the start of the day even at dawn.
The collective agreement for discretionary passenger transport in Las Palmas state does not specify a specific number of hours of advance notice that companies must give their operating staff to inform them of the schedule. In fact, he notes that notification of a shift at any time is an exception to the right to digitally disconnect due to the “special characteristics of the industry.”
Drivers note that this open bar for route communication may result in changes to the work day, even at 11pm, and that they must remain vigilant until then.
One driver admitted that there were times when he couldn’t sleep for four hours between finding the route map and having to get up to start work. He reminded that “we are carrying people” on the bus and warned that the lack of sleep was about to take a toll on the road. “I once saw myself falling asleep,” she confesses.
Although the agreement itself states that companies in this sector will “help employees achieve an appropriate balance between work and family life,” delays in shift management have made mediation an impossible task. The employee admitted in the audio that he did not know if he would be able to pick up his daughter from school because of the “disastrous” plans.
In addition to providing service most nights, all the drivers consulted without exception claimed to provide service regularly, on some days for more than 12 hours. For example, morning shifts typically start at 06:00 (but because they are “drivers, mechanics and cleaning technicians”, they have to arrive early at the starting point to ensure there are no problems with the vehicle) and end at 19:00 in the afternoon.
According to the agreement, the maximum number of working hours allowed per week is 52 hours. That’s counting overtime. However, the driver points out, “It costs 68.” And they say there is no “fair compensation” for that extra time, which could be due to maintenance on the buses themselves or delays in the departure times of routes (at Gran Canaria airport, one source emphasizes, you “never” know when it will end).
Drivers report technical problems with their vehicles. They point out that although some of the fleet in Alsa has been updated, buses that “shouldn’t even be on the road” continue to circulate. At least three officials claim that their brakes stopped working while they were driving. Fuerteventura claims several buses do not have air conditioning.
One employee said in May that he had been assigned to operate a “non-powered” bus and had been that way “since August of last year.” He asked the company to replace the vehicle and warned that it would be kept in a garage until he received a vehicle “in good condition.” However, the company did not offer him an alternative. A few months later, he was sanctioned with disciplinary dismissal for refusing to work his assigned shift, Alsa said. The newspaper found they were “confident” the bus was “in perfect condition”.
Another employee was in a car accident that caused chronic neck and lower back pain. Health officials advised people to avoid handling packages weighing more than 20 kilograms. But the company also made him work for a while at the airport, where “most” of the suitcases he received weighed just over 20 kilograms, he points out.
The driver, who was on a school trip to Fuerteventura, was kept in a rural area with no air conditioning and was kept by the group in a large metal container used as a sleeping area, video shows. The place “wasn’t in good condition,” he criticizes.
“It smelled like animals. There was no hot water. There was nothing nearby,” he added. It lasted only one night there. He was asked if staying overnight would help solve the hot water shortage, but he said no. The company eventually found him an apartment. “The first thing they do is take you to a container and see if it works,” he emphasizes.
Drivers agree that publicly complaining is not the best way to improve the situation within the company. They denounce retaliation. “When you protest about time, you get the worst service,” one laments. They acknowledge that the terms have been substantially the same since before Alsa acquired Grupo 1884 and that the management staff has remained largely unchanged. They expected “improvements” with the entry of Spain’s most important passenger road transport group. And yet, “everything is the same or worse.”
“I know of three drivers who have retired in the last 15 days. They’re saying, ‘This is going to change, this is going to change,’ and then nothing happens,” the source said. “All their drivers are leaving because they don’t do anything. They have no life. People are more than bored,” another added. “No matter how much we complain, they keep throwing the ball at each other,” says one of the last workers.
Some workers submitted proposals for labor improvements, including “payment of overtime in accordance with the law,” a “robust” registration system that “allows for transparent management of working hours,” and knowing weekly schedule quadrants at least five days in advance “with the aim of improving family organization and work-life balance.” Sources have warned of a threat of strikes if the situation does not improve.
Arsa first expanded into the Canary Islands by acquiring Gumidafe, a school route company in Gardar, and then by acquiring Grupo 1884. Arsa’s recent appearance is linked to its possible participation in the awarding process for Gran Canaria’s inter-municipal transport services, which are currently managed by Global and whose contract ends in 2027.
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