- Title: SPAIN: Worker protests on top of crane for over six months
- Date: 29th September 2010
- Summary: POZUELO, SPAIN (RECENT) (REUTERS) CONSTRUCTION SITE IN MAIN SQUARE/CRANE IN THE BACKGROUND PROTESTER DONEY RAMIREZ STANDING ON TOP OF CRANE DRAPED WITH BANNER READING 'PANDERING TO RUIN' DONEY RAMIREZ VIEW OF THE 40 METRE HIGH CRANE AS SEEN FROM BELOW RAMIREZ LOOKING, STANDING ON CRANE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DONEY RAMIREZ, PROTESTER AND CONSTRUCTION WORKER, SAYING (SPEAKING ON MOBILE PHONE) "The goal of my protest is to get what we are owed, to get our money back and also to call on the government to change this law, because that way many of the companies that have had to close would re-open because they would get their money back." POZUELO RESIDENT ORISEL GASPAR DELIVERING BAGS CONTAINING DONEY'S BREAKFAST TO THE CONSTRUCTION SITE GUARD GUARD ATTACHING BAGS TO ROPE AT BOTTOM OF CRANE VARIOUS OF RAMIREZ HOISTING BAGS OF FOOD TO TOP OF CRANE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DONEY RAMIREZ, PROTESTER AND CONSTRUCTION WORKER, SAYING (SPEAKING ON MOBILE PHONE) "People must take to the streets, make themselves heard, demonstrate in some way." VARIOUS OF DONEY EATING BREAKFAST ARTURO SANGIN GARCIA, OWNER OF ESTRUCTURAS JIGAR (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARTURO SANGIN GARCIA, OWNER OF ESTRUCTURAS JIGAR, SAYING "We are trying to get paid but we also try to show the situation the construction sector is experiencing, because this situation in Spain of non-payment, companies not paying their providers, which I am part of, has become common, people aren't paying up." PEOPLE WALKING WITH CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN THE BACKGROUND WORKING ON A ROOF CONSTRUCTION WORKERS ON ROOF SMALL TRACTOR CONSTRUCTION WORKER SHOVELING RUBBLE ORISEL GASPAR AND HER DAUGHTER WAVING TO RAMIREZ FROM OUTSIDE THE CONSTRUCTION SITE VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS LOOKING UP AT CONSTRUCTION SITE AND POINTING AT RAMIREZ POZUELO RESIDENT MANUEL DEL HOYO LOOKING UP AT A CRANE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MANUEL DEL HOYO, POZUELO RESIDENT, SAYING: "Well if he (Estructuras Jigar) isn't paid what he is owed then what else is he (Doney) going to do other than be there (on the crane), he's getting his salary, everyone defends what's theirs. Now what is needed is for the money to be paid (to Jigar), if it is owed, and for him to come down, because he has children." VARIOUS OF RAMIREZ ON TOP OF CRANE
- Embargoed: 14th October 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Spain
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Employment,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA4Y5GVBI4OB7ANED2FYDFOMKFM
- Story Text: As Spain's two major labour unions stage a nationwide strike, Doney Ramirez continues his one-man protest on top of a 40 metre crane he climbed more than six months ago.
The 36-year-old Colombian construction worker has endured freezing temperatures, storms and the scorching summer heat since March 3, when he climbed the crane overlooking the main square in Pozuelo, a wealthy suburb west of Madrid.
Doney says he won't come down until Estructuras Jigar, a small company he works for, gets paid the 150,000 euros (201,000 USD) it's owed by a bigger company for work done remodelling Pozuelo's square.
Ploder Uicesa had contracted Jigar but went bankrupt, leaving its owner Arturo Sandin Garcia out of pocket and at least 20 of Doney's colleagues out of work.
Rather than be unemployed, the father made his way to the top the crane to take up their cause.
Orisel Gaspar, a Pozuelo resident, delivers breakfast to Doney every morning. He pulls it up with a rope, along with bottles of water he drinks and uses to cleanse himself.
Doney takes shelter in a small tent and only has two square metres (21 square feet) to move around in. Nobody is allowed up on the crane and, other than yelling, his mobile phone is his only source of communication. But he says the difficulties are worth the objective he hopes to achieve.
"The goal of my protest is to get what we are owed, to get our money back and also to call on the government to change this law, because that way many of the companies that have had to close would re-open because they would get their money back," Doney says, referring to legislation that protects companies, like Ploder Uicesa, that go bust.
With a banner reading 'Pandering to Ruin' hanging from the crane, a reference to the government's law that supports big insolvent companies, Doney agrees with the September 29 national strike and believes the only way to achieve change is through protest.
"People must take to the streets, make themselves heard, demonstrate in some way," he says.
Jigar's owner Sandin Garcia says his experience is shared by many small and medium sized companies in the construction industry, once the jewel in the Spanish economy's crown until the bubble burst towards the end of 2007.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of construction workers have lost their jobs contributing to Spain's unemployment rate of over 20.9 per cent, or 4,645,500 people in July -- the highest in the eurozone.
Statistics released by the Ministry of Labour and Immigration reported in August unemployment in the construction sector at 737,295 people. Of these 152,557 of them are immigrants like Doney.
"We are trying to get paid but we also try to show the situation the construction sector is experiencing, because this situation in Spain of non-payment, companies not paying their providers, and I am one of them, has become common, people aren't paying up," Sandin Garcia says.
Doney and two other colleagues who were up on the crane before him have not succeeded in getting Jigar what it is owed but he has caught the attention of the media and Pozuelo's residents.
Some residents think he should come down though and resent that he continues to receive his salary while he lives in the crane. Others, however, are sympathetic to his cause.
"Well if he (Estructuras Jigar) isn't paid what he is owed then what else is he (Doney) going to do other than be there (on the crane), he's getting his salary, everyone defends what's theirs. Now what is needed is for the money to be paid (to Jigar), if it is owed, and for him to come down, because he has children," said Manuel del Hoyo, a Pozuelo resident that has been watching Doney since he went up on the crane.
The work in Pozuelo town centre is due to be completed before the end of the year. Whether the crane moves however will depend on whether Doney decides to come down. That, he says, will only happen when the money due is paid up. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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