- The Ambuiberica company is responsible for providing the ambulance service to the Basque Autonomous Community. The ELA trade union will bring an action against the company before the High Court of Justice on the grounds that it does not comply with the coronavirus protection measures. So far 15 workers have been infected. The union has asked the Basque Government, instead of outsourcing ambulances, to take over management.
ELA will register in the Social Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Basque Country a lawsuit against Ambuibérica on the protection of fundamental rights (right to health, life and physical integrity). In addition, the union has indicated that it will "request precautionary measures for directions to urgently and immediately provide all workers with approved protective equipment that complies with the protocols and repeated requirements of the Labour Inspectorate". ELA will also call for a fine to be imposed for every day that the health of workers is not guaranteed.
15 infected workers
Ambuibérica is the company that awarded the ambulances of the CAPV. Provides transportation and emergency health assistance. In Bizkaia it has 32 headquarters and 15 in Gipuzkoa (RTSU), and affects approximately 825 workers. Of these, 15 are infected and 39 are isolated.
Consequences of subcontracting: ambulance users at risk
ELA denounces the subcontracting system: "The Basque Government has an obligation to ensure and guarantee the health of Basque citizens. Non-compliance with the health of the workers by the awarded companies affects not only the workers, but also the users of the service, as the lack of measures and a higher risk of contagion make the ambulance workers transmitters of the virus".
The union has asked the Basque Government "to become involved in the resolution of the problem and to require companies to take direct responsibility for the security measures and the management of this service, subrogating itself in the current workers who provide this service so fundamental for care".