On October 1, they concentrated on denouncing the death of Errenteria truck driver Iñaki Azkuna. Five trade unions have reported that 43 workers have died so far this year without taking into account deaths caused by occupational diseases. As has been pointed out in recent years, “the incidence of accidents in the transport sector is very high. Every year, on average, one carrier dies every month. By 2024, there are already 10 carriers who have died in an occupational accident.”

The trade unions have made known the factors underlying these deaths: “There is one reason to take precedence: the increasingly widespread precariousness in the sector.” In his words, “working conditions in the transport sector are very scarce: long hours, stress, pressure, low price they pay for transport, difficulties to make a healthy diet for working conditions, etc. All this increases the likelihood of accidents, as well as the risk of cardiovascular problems, with the results we are seeing.”

Precariousness has a responsibility

The five trade unions consider that precariousness in the transport sector "has its responsibility". In the first of these, a "moving" employer was mentioned against the renewal of the transport agreement. “We have not improved the working conditions of transporters in the sector for more than fifteen years. In fact, the last Gipuzkoa sectoral agreement dates back to 2009. Therefore, it is not surprising the ageing of workers in the sector, which leads to an increased risk of accidents,” they explained.

The five unions reiterated that transport is a basic sector that gives activity to all other sectors and that “it cannot have working conditions of fifteen years ago”. The institutions must show their commitment to “end impunity” for the employers. In their words, if they refuse to see the high number of deaths that occur in the sector “they will be complicit in what happened and will happen.”