Drivers from Orihuela’s RSU service of the Orihuela City Council walked out on Tuesday when they learned that they had been working since December 22 without any insurance for the vehicles they were driving.
A spokesman said that the staff were completely unaware of the situation but when rumours began to gain momentum a simple check of vehicle license plates in council databases confirmed the situation to be true.
It was later confirmed that the trucks have been without insurance since 22 December.
With the municipal council failing to rectify the situation, sources from the union instructed staff to withdraw their labour, following which there were no further refuse collections on Tuesday or overnight, with vehicles being parked up in municipal compounds.
The PP Councillor Dámaso Aparicio explained that there are almost 60 vehicles circulating without insurance and that, in his opinion, the council’s failure to ensure they are operating legally has endangered the public and, in particular, all Street Cleaning and MSW workers: “All vehicle owners have the obligation to take out compulsory insurance on their vehicles. If they fail to do so there vehicles are immobilised and they receive a fine of 1,500 euros “. Instead, “it would appear that the Orihuela City Council has left it’s vehicles uninsured.”
“This is the straw that breaks the camel’s back as it is a very serious act of negligence”, insisted Aparicio, who recalled that the Street Cleaning service has fewer workers than before last year’s motion of censure, with the same budget and with more expenses, in addition to the fact that the consortium is demanding that the City Council settle a debt of 2.3 million euros that if not paid before April 20, will incur additional late payment interest of 500,000 euros.
Added to all this, the councillor confirmed, that the UTE who have been responsible for beach cleaning both in summer and at Easter has announced the termination of the contract as the workers have been three months without pay.
Following the walkout of the RSU employees the PP has demanded the resignation of the mayoress, Carolina Gracia, and the councillor for Street Cleaning and RSU, Guillermo Cánovas although they have also stated that it is actually the councillor for Heritage, José Aix, who is responsible for ensuring that all the Insurance contracts are in force.
In the meantime the Orihuela City Council, has said that “work is being done to resolve the solution.”
The PP has also pointed out that it has learned that other vehicles from different areas could also be in the same situation.
