- According to the union, goods are open air and available to anyone, and customers are entering without masks. The Department of Security has warned that it has not yet occurred but that the centre could be the focus of mass contagion. Full trade union note below:
"ELA has been denouncing to the authorities for over a week the conditions under which fruit, vegetables and fish are sold in Mercabilbao. The situation is critical for workers, but also for all citizens. In view of the health alert situation, ELA immediately contacted the authority, concerned about the sale without protective measures: no restrictions of availability, no prohibitions of cash payment, no measures of protection of workers, no measures of protection of goods as.Ante this non-purpose, and knowing that Mercabilbao can be a potential focus to radiate the coronavirus to the whole area of northern Bilbao,
On 15 March, the authorities forced Mercabilbao to limit the capacity in the city centre. But this is the only measure that has been implemented today. The Ertzaintza monitors access to vehicles, but does not control the pavilions to ensure that the minimum standards for Basque citizenship are met.
As a result, very serious situations are occurring: the entry of uncovered goods and at the disposal of anyone, clients without gloves or masks or bring them home, the massification is not respected by some clients the maximum time of stay, the metro and a half is not respected among people.
This situation is untenable. Workers face risk situations on a daily basis. If the authorities continue to underestimate ALS requirements, Mercabilbao risks becoming an uncontrolled focus of the coronavirus. If the virus were detected in Mercabilbao and if it were to be decided to suspend the activity, we would be forced to deal with a serious problem of supplying fruit, vegetables and fish.
It still has a solution. It has not yet happened. We call on the authorities to take the necessary measures before this situation is reached. The City Council of Bilbao is directly responsible for everything that happens in Mercabilbao as a result of the guilty omission. We call on the City Council to rethink its action and to act with its responsibility in this state of alarm.
Mercabilbao, 60% owned by the City of Bilbao, brings together about 70 wholesale fruit, vegetables and fish companies. Retailers or retailers in the "North Peninsular" approach it every day. This is how Mercabilbao is defined on his website: "MERCABILBAO is currently the largest perishable food distribution center in the north of the Iberian Peninsula". This means that much of the fruit, vegetables and fish that comes to our homes have passed through Mercabilbao earlier, and there come the owners of supermarkets, neighborhood shops or grocery stores to buy. Mercabilbao is located in the municipality of Basauri, one of the municipalities most affected by the epidemic in the CAPV".