The departmental councilor Gabriel Gabbiani (Colorado Party – List 10) sent a request for information to the Municipality of Colonia (IDC) regarding the serious allegations made by the worker Luis Elvis García, from the Municipality of Tarariras, about alleged irregularities and abuses committed by a foreman of said municipality.
On his social media, García maintains that “in the operational section, we depend directly on a 1st class foreman, who from the first day I joined, in 2012, always abused his functions, belittled and mistreated the workers, thus generating workplace and psychological harassment against most of them.”
“In our sector – the official continues – we have different types of workers depending on their functions. There are the “mimosos” (…), who are two or three people assigned to the simplest jobs. They are the ones who earn the most in terms of salary because they have accumulated more than 140 hours of overtime in a month that no one controls, and many times they are not even at work. They collect travel expenses without doing them, they receive special unhealthy cemetery benefits also many times without doing them, and, of course, when the others go to work outside, they stay in the shed, sometimes for more than an hour, so as not to be cold or hot and to take care of their health.”
Given the seriousness of the above, the Colorado councilor requested:
1. The name, position and nature of the same (seasonal, temporary, contracted, budgeted) and task performed by all workers in the operational sector of the Municipality of Tarariras shall be reported;
2. How many hours of overtime have each of them worked, at what time and for what tasks, considering that working “140 hours of overtime in a month, which no one controls,” would mean working an average of 6 hours of overtime per day for 23 days a month;
3. Who has paid travel expenses, how much, on what date, for what tasks and how the completion of the same is verified, since according to the complaint allegedly “travel expenses are charged without being paid”;
4. Who has been paid for unhealthy tasks in the cemetery, on what date, for what tasks and how the completion of these tasks is verified;
5. What criteria has the accused foreman adopted to grant overtime, and whether it is evident that said award has been made arbitrarily, benefiting or punishing the different officials;
6. Whether the “psychological harassment” by the foreman referred to by the worker has been proven, and whether the phrases mentioned (“If you don’t like the job, leave it; I’ll take care of the forms later”, “I don’t pay you to think, I pay you to follow orders”, “I’m the one who gives the orders here, and whoever doesn’t like it already knows what to do”, “Nobody is complete here, nobody is good for anything”, among others) are indeed routine in daily dealings;
7. If, as stated in the complaint, the mayor has validated with his signatures the overtime to which we refer, and in light of the assertion that these situations have already been discussed with him more than once without finding a solution, the reasons why this alleged irregular situation persists should be stated, and why it has not been resolved.
8. Given the nature and seriousness of the complaint, please report whether the IDC has ordered an administrative investigation to investigate the alleged irregular acts or actions of one or more officials and to identify those presumed responsible. If the investigation has been completed and a responsible party has been identified or identified, please report whether a summary has been initiated, whether the evidence has been analyzed, the classification of the offense (minor, serious, very serious) and whether liability is deemed proven, taking into account the functional duty violated, the degree to which the applicable regulations have been violated, the seriousness of the damage caused and the discredit to the public image of the Municipal Administration.
“These allegations are serious and cannot go unnoticed. The administration must clarify this situation and provide explanations,” said Gabbiani.
Press release by Councillor Gabbiani
