The LAB trade union has denounced that this is a "fatal non-traumatic occupational accident". They recalled that the system of work established by the company in which the operator worked, Tugboats Ibaizabal, consisting of 24-hour guards that were used for 72 hours and that at present 48 hour guards are carried out to then rest for four days, had already been denounced. As a result of the change, workers have to increase by 624 hours a year.

This change in working hours places a great burden on workers. In the case of the expired machine chief, he started working at 9:00 on Saturday and had to finish his job on Monday.

“Normally during the day, if there is no assistance maneuver from other boats with towing, maintenance is carried out from 9:00 to 13:00 and from 16:00 to 18:00. We know that on the night of 6 to 7 April the tugboat Ibaizabal 8 began a maneuver that began at 9 p.m. and ended at 11 p.m. Then he worked tirelessly from 03:15 to 10:03 on April 7,” explained LAB.

In the port of Pasaia the tugboats are also managed by the company itself and, according to the union, a new company pact is being negotiated. “And how not, the company wants to extend the day”, as read in the note published by the union. “An entrepreneur such as the shipowner Alejandro Aznar, the director of this company, Patxi Garaigordobil, and the director of human resources, Javier Zapatero, cannot say that they did not know the risk of a relentless job.”