The members of AAV Pause have narrated how long working days, insecurity, business abuse, racism and drug use are intertwined, which is why they have determined that AAV works “are an indicator of modern slavery.

The associations say that the lives of workers are constantly being put at risk and that twelve people have already died in the work of the AVE of the Basque Country. Most of the workers are uncertain migrants who “also suffer from racism and homophobic treatment.”

“That is to say, basically, we can say that the AVE is an infrastructure of the 21st century, but with working conditions of the 19th century,” they emphasize, calling on both state and regional administrations to intervene: “They know it happens, but they ignore it.”

According to the testimonies collected in the workers’ arts, the poor quality of the works, the theft of fuel for subsequent sale, work accidents and soil pollution are occurring in the works. The testimonies of a worker who worked in the Tafalla tunnel in 2023 and 2024 have been exposed. These are the following:

Lack of security

"No one was waiting for security supplies, no one was waiting to see if every employee was following the rules. They didn’t give me gloves, masks or glasses.”

The Endless Workdays

"These were long working hours of 12, 14, 18 and 20 hours. Many workers complained, but the worker threatened them. They were threatened with being kicked out of the company, with a line on the file, all because of many insults and humiliations. I spent six weeks and seven weeks working at night without changing shifts, which caused problems in my sleep."

Drugs in the tunnel

"Substances were used inside the tunnel, which significantly increased the tension. There were people who walked without a harness, without security, without anything, drugged, four or five meters high and had alcohol almost every day. People who fell asleep with machines, who had accidents inside the tunnel... but many of these things don't come to light. There's a lot of drugs, a lot of cocaine in the tunnels. Especially among the caretakers. He was always drugged.”

Oil and gas emissions inside the tunnel

"One of the devices we worked on was not suitable for operating inside the tunnel. There were constant oil leaks. Not one liter of leaks, but 200, 400 and 700 liters of oil thrown into the tunnel, and we without masks, we had to endure terrible pollution. A lot of fuel was stolen. There was a mafia dedicated to that.”

The modern slaves

"The people who suffered the most abuse were people from another company. For what reason? They came from Portugal and Africa, did not know the language well and were constantly insulted and manipulated. Some of them were encouraged to consume substances so that they could sustain the long day of the tunnel. Those of us who were there were treated like slaves, like slaves today. The bosses knew it, but they ignored it. The most powerful of the companies know who to put there to act as a stalker. I worked 290-360 hours a month.

The labour inspectorate

"When they found out about the inspection, they told us two days in advance, we cleaned everything up and everything seemed to be fine."

Accidents at work

"I had two accidents at work, which I was not considered a work accident, but a normal one. There's no ambulance, there's no paramedic who should be there for any emergency, there's nothing. Nobody wanted to take me to the health center, I had to go by myself, with the car. Later I had another accident and they didn’t want to take me to the hospital, so I had to do it on my own. You call the mutuality of the company and the mutuality agrees with the company to divert the accident to Social Security, and they wash their hands. There are many misfortunes. Even with high voltage the danger was enormous, the robotic cables exploded frequently, the tunnel was always flooded and the high voltage cables there. There were violent explosions all over the tunnel, fires..."

Work and syndication without quality

"Of course they'll say the tunnel is fine, great, but it's not like that. It is not well built and it is not well prepared to take the fast train that has to pass through it. What about the unions? The one who mentioned the word “union” was immediately dismissed; they argued that he did little work, as is customary in such cases.”

Members of the AVE have also called to attend the demonstration that will take place on February 15 in Pamplona to denounce the works of the AVE. This association has been supported by Contigo-Contigo, EH Bil, Haritu Network of Mutual Support, Pamplona Socialist Council, Coordination of Action, Martes al Sol, Workers’ Self-Defense Network, SOS Racism and CGT, CNT, ELA, ESK and LAB during the event.