Firefighters of Álava call for three weeks of strike
- ELA and LAB have received among the main requests the increase in staff, the achievement of a new convention and respect for rest days. According to the News Journal of Álava, the strike will not affect the daily fire service, but will affect the rest days of the workers.
The Firefighters of Álava began the strike on Monday, which will continue until August 4, according to a joint statement by ELA and LAB. However, the trade unions have stressed that they expect it to be resumed all summer “if the Provincial Council of Álava does not sit down to negotiate to solve the structural problems of the workforce”.
The increase in the workforce is one of the main demands of fire fighters. In this sense, they have stressed that in each park in Álava there are three firefighters and have denounced that it is a "deficient" and "irresponsible" park for health. According to Álava's News Journal, Lakua has established that the minimum services of each park are two firefighters and one cape, while fire fighters ask for three firefighters and one cape for each park.
ELA and LAB have also agreed that they are calling for a new collective agreement that has not been renewed for eight years. The unions have received firefighters without a Fire Chief for years and have called for the dismissal of Alberto Amenabar, Managing Director who has made decisions during those years, “for mismanagement and for a conflictive identity.” In addition, workers have denounced that reinforcements are not considered a minimum service and have therefore not been able to be repressed.
However, the Journal of News of Álava has reported that each worker will strike only on the day of rest in the Basque Country. Firefighters have asked for 100% of the minimum services to be covered for “responsibility”, while Lakua has proposed 75% of the services. Therefore, the fire service will not be changed on a day-to-day basis, as the strike will only be held on a day of rest. “If we work one day for 24 hours, then we enjoy three consecutive days of rest. But with the new foral order, of the three consecutive free days each firefighter has in summer, in the second must be available, even if he has to go to an emergency,” the fire brigade explains, according to the Algerian newspaper. They have denounced that it is "unacceptable" that the day of rest is not respected and called for the impositions to be dismantled. They say that there is no special negotiation or compensation for these impositions.
November 19 is World Bathing Day. Even today, in the twenty-first century, many workers here in the Basque Country do not have the right to use the toilet in their working days. Many transport workers are an example of this.
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