The volunteer firefighters of Catalonia are starting the forest fire campaign without being registered with Social Security or having Occupational Risk Prevention coverage because the Departament d'Interior does not recognize them as workers. The situation affects a group that faces risky interventions while demanding that accidents suffered during service be considered work-related accidents.
The paradox arrives at the beginning of the period of greatest exposure to fire and accidents. Those who participate in forest firefighting do not contribute to retirement or have access to risk-related reduction coefficients, nor do they have the basic prevention mechanisms that accompany any risky work activity.
Fifty firefighters took their protest to Social Security in Barcelona
About fifty members of Bombers Precaris en Lluita cycled through Barcelona in a bike ride between the headquarters of the Departament d'Interior and the National Institute of Social Security, on Sant Antoni Maria Claret street. The protest was supported by Riders X Derechos.
The chosen slogan was "Contribution is our protection; we want to contribute". The mobilization served to denounce that the lack of registration prevents them from generating retirement rights and excludes the reduction coefficients linked to the riskiness of the service.
Núria Soto, a representative of Riders X Derechos, framed the conflict within a logic of "uberization" of the sector. Soto linked this interpretation to the lack of social coverage and the fact that availability does not count as working time.
"Glovo has had to register with Social Security, Uber Eats the same, and the Generalitat will have to do the same sooner or later, either voluntarily or by court decision" - Daniel Sitjà, president of Bombers Precaris
The claim is not limited to contributions. The group maintains that the absence of Occupational Risk Prevention eliminates the basic tools to avoid accidents in a service exposed to fire, smoke, and operations in changing environments.
Demands are advancing while 33 town councils have already given their support
In parallel to the protest, the judicial route has already begun to move. The labor court of Sabadell has declared itself competent to process one of the lawsuits, after being the only one that had pending the jurisdictional issue.
Seven other lawsuits have already been admitted for processing and have trial dates. In Tortosa, the court has requested the individualized submission of the lawsuit, although without disputing its jurisdiction to address the case.
Josep Maria Alcalà, president of Asbovoca and member of Bombers Precaris, defended that contributing is part of the basic rights of the group. The demand is accompanied by the commitment to participate in the next forest campaign despite the open conflict with the administration.
In a month and a half, the precarious firefighters have gathered 33 municipal supports through 18 motions, in addition to the agreement of a county council and the support of the 15 mayors of Pallars Sobirà. This institutional support now reaches 12 counties in the four Catalan provinces.
Furthermore, the motions were passed unanimously both in municipalities with volunteer fire departments and in cities with civil servant firefighters, including Viladecans and Terrassa.