The UGT and CCOO union verify that, despite the statements FROM the ORIHUELA Council, the waste collection vehicles still do not have compulsory insurance
Shortly after the overnight shift of the Orihuela street cleaning and waste collection service got underway on Thursday, just before midnight the trucks returned to their depots following verification to the unions, the UGT and CCOO union, from the Guardia Civil, Local Police and the insurer that the vehicles still do not have the mandatory insurance.
They feel abandoned: “They have lied to us,” one of the employees told the press, who at 12:30 a.m. was preparing to fill out the report confirming that he had reported to work but was unable to work due to lack of insurance.
Earlier in the day, on Thursday morning, the Orihuela mayoress, Carolina Gracia, had appeared at a press conference to admit that “an irregularity” had been found with the insurance of all municipal vehicles, which affected all departments, but that it would be resolved during the day.
The mayoress explained, that the Municipal Authority had contracted the vehicle insurance through the Central Contracting Office of the Provincial Council of Alicante, however the unions seem to be saying that this is not the case.
The alarm sounded on Tuesday when the Partido Popular revealed the lack of mandatory insurance on the municipal vehicles. That same night the workers refused go out to collect the rubbish with the PP and the unions demanding that the council be held to account.
The PP have since requested the resignation of the mayoress, the councillor Guillermo Cánovas and the Deputy Mayor, José Aix, who is responsible for ensuring that all municipal insurance contracts are in place.
On Wednesday at noon the interruption of the service was officially notified through an internal statement from the councillor, Guillermo Cánovas: “Since there has been no mandatory insurance for the fleet of council vehicles since 22 December, it is totally prohibited to use them” .
It was then that the PP also sent a complaint to the Provincial Labour and Social Security Inspectorate denouncing the Orihuela City Council, Carolina Gracia and Aix, requesting that they initiate disciplinary proceedings, as they considered the situation to constitute a serious infraction.
The UGT union also requested that the same three individuals be held to account “given the seriousness” of what it described as “gross negligence on the part of this municipal council”, since practically all (except rentals) of the mandatory civil liability insurance of the municipal fleet has been out of date for months”.
This, the union continued, is “reckless” for “putting the safety and health of workers at risk, since this situation should not have been allowed to occur.”
In addition, UGT stressed that “the consequences, in the event of an accident caused by these vehicles without their mandatory insurance, could have been disastrous for the employees who drive these vehicles and for any member of the public who might also have been involved.”
