The reports of the workers of the Canberra elderly residence in Altza have had a great impact in recent weeks, as they have agreed on the need to increase staff and materials to ensure decent living conditions for residents. In fact, Txomin Lasa, head of the socio-sanitary area of the ELA trade union, has stressed that the situation in Berra is "very serious": “Berran has more than 100 workers and about 40 are out of coronavirus as they have had symptoms or tested positive. In addition, about 35 residents have tested positive, while twelve are on Matia Street in the Vizcain capital, in the Red Cross. According to our data, between 20 March and 17 April there were 25 deaths, while usually between one and three people died in one month.” For this reason, the union has called for Osakidetza's intervention to try to "reverse" the situation in the Basque Country.

Lasa explained that the situation of nurses in the residence, for example, is especially difficult: “Eight nurses work in Berra and have been on leave. The other two have therefore been making 10-12 hour shifts. They are very involved in turning this situation around, but it is very hard and the consequences are dire.”

Madalen Ibáñez's mother is in Berria's headquarters and has followed the same line as Lasa: “The workers are exhausted. When we were going to visit the relatives, we freed the workers a little, but now we can’t go.” In the case of Nekane Sáenz de Cabezón, he who is in Berra is his uncle, and he has stressed that this crisis has exacerbated the problems that were long ago: “Before this situation, we have long seen that the workers were not meeting their ratios, which is why we joined in their strike. When you call to talk to your uncle, you see that the workers are full of work. In addition, more than twenty residents have died in these weeks, which has caused a great beating of the workers.”

On the other hand, Ibáñez has explained that this situation also greatly affects the residents: “Those who have their heads well realize that something happens and worry, but those who don’t have their heads so well don’t notice and are frightened.” Sáenz de Cabezón explains this with an example: “For many days we’ve made a video call with my uncle, we’ve done it at noon, and he still wore a pajamas, because the workers didn’t have time to change.”

Lasa has pointed out that, although the material has already begun to reach Berra, when the crisis began, much was missing and the safety protocols drawn up by the Council of Gipuzkoa were developed on the basis of that material. According to Lasa, behind this problem is the company DomusVi that manages the residence Berra: “It has become evident, once again, that the handing over of residences to a company of this kind prioritises income above the interests of the citizens, the working conditions of the workers and the living conditions of the residents”. Ibáñez has also criticised the attitude of this company: “The management company has come to make money and save everything they can, even in diapers.” That is why Sáenz de Cabezón wanted to send a clear message to the public institutions: “I would like to tell the institutions that we have to learn something about this situation and that this service has to be public. However, I would like to thank the workers, who are giving everything in the worst conditions.”

Measures by the Member

The spokeswoman for the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, Eider Mendoza, explained that they know what is happening in the residence of Berra and that because of this they have opened work bags of caregivers and nurses, have moved day centre workers to strengthen their homes and, in some cases, have enabled the intervention of Osakidetza. He also highlighted the resources made available to workers: “We have put a psychological care service (phone 900-43 43 43) for workers and also have the possibility to stay in a network of fourteen hotels in the territory if they have difficulty in not infecting vulnerable family members or going to work.”

Moreover, Mendoza stressed that measures had been taken on the material: “Nearly 3,000 face masks have already been sent to Berra and over 800 complete PPE [Personal Protective Equipment].” In addition, he indicated that specific protocols were sent to all headquarters in March: “These protocols set out different scenarios and specify the measures to be taken in each of them, specifying the prevention measures to be taken in centers that do not have positive cases, those that should be adopted in those where there are suspected cases, and those that should be taken to maintain the deployment in those that have one or more positive cases.”

Likewise, Mendoza was thankful for the degree of involvement shown by residential workers: “We are making a huge effort with the responsibility and responsibility that the situation requires, and, of course, we really appreciate the work that all professionals are doing, because they are not easy times.”

The strike, postponed

Workers in the residences of Gipuzkoa had been on strike for 243 days when the coronavirus crisis began, demanding a review of their ratios and salaries. However, in anticipation of difficult weeks, they decided to postpone the strike to care for residents of the residences. According to Lasa, the situation in all the residences of Gipuzkoa has become clearer with this health crisis, so they have "clearer than ever" that they will return to the strike as soon as possible: “We have been fighting in this sector for years to denounce the precariousness of these care tasks, which in most cases are in the hands of women. It is therefore clear that we will return to the strike to ensure decent working conditions and decent living conditions for working women.”