Luis Navas, a Fospuca worker, died while working at the Cañaveral landfill. Despite the fact that Fospuca assures that it was not related to the death of the worker or to the working conditions, workers denounce that the lack of safety equipment caused the accident
Text: Francesca Diaz / Caroní Mail
Workers of the company in charge of the collection of solid waste in Ciudad Guayana denounced to Correo del Caroní that the company intends to wash its face and exempt itself from responsibilities in the face of the death of the worker Luis Navas, who died while doing his workday in the landfill of Canaveral.
Despite the fact that the accident occurred on April 12, the company issued a statement to inform the community of the event on Friday, April 14, in which they allege that the worker “was in an area that was not allowed, very close to a compactor and at the time of a maneuver with the truck, the accident occurred.
Likewise, the company clarifies that the accident “is not related to working conditions.”
However, workers interviewed by this means assert that the company forces the staff to carry out dangerous maneuvers, including cleaning the compactors’ lathe -a part that is responsible for crushing the garbage for its compaction through a hydraulic system-, and work without the corresponding protective equipment.
According to the version of the employees, Navas was manually cleaning the lathe of the hydraulic compactors used by Fospuca.
“That is a hydraulic equipment that compacts the garbage towards the wheel that crushes it to go inside. The worker is obligated to clean that up because if not, benefits are lost. Those who don’t do it, their wages are reduced for leaving the truck dirty,” they said.
*Read also: Six social communicators attacked in protest against Fospuca in Bolívar
Fospuca bills of up to a thousand dollars, salaries of less than 20 dollars
Complaints about the exorbitant rates that Fospuca charges to businesses have become commonplace in the Caroní municipality. Regarding this, the company has issued seizure orders to up to eight establishments that cannot afford the invoices whose amounts amount to up to a thousand dollars. .
In contrast, the workers claim that they earn, on average, between 70 and 100 bolivars a week, which is equivalent to 400 bolivars a month, that is, 16 dollars a month.
It must be noted that, according to estimates from the Bolivar State College of Engineers, the company collects $2,879,596 per month, income that is not reflected in the wages of its workers.
“We earn less than 5 dollars a week. We get about 15 dollars a month. I’m here just waiting for something else to come out,” claimed a company worker.
This situation had already been denounced by the workers during December 2022, when they stated that the company made reductions of up to 15% of the promised salary during the negotiation.
When they began operations, the company offered a salary of 30 dollars a month, however, since the contracts are in bolivars and do not fluctuate with the country’s inflation, for December the amount was reduced to 20 dollars. For April 2023, the amount represents $16. A reduction of almost 50%.
Despite the fact that in his statement Fospuca claims “to have expressed solidarity with the family of the colleague”, employees say that the company has not responded with the funeral expenses derived from the death of Navas.
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