Guaranteed health protection and employment for workers

 

Juan MENDOZA CASTRO
Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT)

My organisation has been active on two main fronts.

The first is health, and more specifically the health and safety of workers and the general public. We have issued a series of recommendations regarding precautionary measures. It is essential that every company have a contingency plan or general safety and health protocol, negotiated with the legal representatives of workers. We have therefore published a document detailing the main measures to be implemented by companies to help ensure a safe return to work. This also meant negotiating with companies in order to guarantee safety. Our activities relating to health were aimed at essential service providers, as well as people in quarantine. Generally speaking this was about care, guidance and protecting the health of workers.

The second front is the employment situation of workers resulting from businesses being closed, including unemployment. My organisation worked on an employee security mechanism, and obtained an agreement with the government on regularisation of temporary contracts. This was signed for a stipulated period, which we are now negotiating to extend. The aim is to relieve the situation of companies and help workers.

In addition to all these activities, we set up a special phone line to answer any queries relating to COVID-19 and workers' rights. A manual was published containing information collated from government announcements and the phone consultations, which was then made available to union members and other workers.

Work organisation