The Minister of Labour, jeanette jaraspoke about the problems presented by some volunteer firefighters who are in the fight against forest fires that affect the south-central area of the country.
One of the main problems that volunteers face is the possibility of being fired once the emergency is controlled. Given this, the job holder specified that “it will not be allowed” and that by instruction of the President gabriel boricThey will have the backing of the Government.
in conversation with meganews, The Secretary of State specified that the Firefighters who are in Ñuble, Biobío and La Araucanía have expressed concern about this possibility. In this regard, Jara maintained that the Labor Directorate will carry out inspections in the event of layoffs in the coming months towards volunteers. “We are not going to allow your participation in this much-needed life-saving effort to be used and then, under another excuse, end up firing you,” she said.
He also explained that four or five years ago a law was enacted that allows Firefighters volunteers to attend emergencies and not suffer – for that reason – the discount of hours or that is considered abandonment of work. However, the law does not protect future dismissal, so Minister Jara stressed the importance of inspection.
Although he did not want to generalize to all employers, he knows that there are exceptions and that they have caused problems for volunteers who have gone to fight forest fires. In these cases, “we are going to look at them with a magnifying glass,” he specified.
