Murcia’s Regional Federation of Transport Organizations (Froet) has reacted with anger and dismay over the fact a lorry driver has been fired for publishing a film that showed he had been ordered to wait in a caged area of a cardboard warehouse while his truck was loaded.
It is reported that the truck driver was told to wait in the caged area, which spans just two square metres, for almost 4 hours while his truck was being loaded last week.
Manuel Perezcarro Martín, Froet’s Secretary General, confirmed that the video was genuine:
No, it is not a joke; put in a cage of two square metres from which he can only get out if the authorized personnel of the company that owns the warehouse opens it with an electronic key.
Writing on Instagram, Froet said the video shows that drivers are “being treated like slaves or animals” and asked its followers “How has it come to this?”
🚛 Un camionero murciano estuvo encerrado durante casi cuatro horas en una jaula de una empresa de Tarragona.
La patronal del transporte @froetmurcia ha difundido el vídeo que grabó él mismo https://t.co/tteDCTC2BJ
🖊️ @chemamartinezl pic.twitter.com/i3CbR1sfSj
— RTVE Murcia (@RTVEMurcia) July 2, 2021
Froet states that while the truck is being loaded and unloaded, drivers must be offered a decent space that at the very least offers a toilet and a place to rest. In a Tweet, the organisation added that what happened at the warehouse was “unacceptable” and that drivers cannot be treated in such a manner.
🖐️Estas prácticas deben acabar cuanto antes.
😡🚚NO es de recibo que sigan tratando así a nuestros conductores.
☝️😴Y los sindicatos ➡️más denuncias proactivas ante estos abusos.@UGTMurcia @USOMurcia @CCOORM https://t.co/zEosj9WyoF— FROET (@froetmurcia) July 2, 2021
As for the fact that the driver was sacked for highlighting the shocking treatment he faced on the job, Manuel Perezcarro Martín described it as a “new low” for the sector:
The worst of all this is that the sector has been so denigrated to the point that the sharing of the video has cost the lorry driver, who worked for a large Murcian transport operator, his job. Instead of addressing the issue faced by its employee, and defending the dignity of the lorry drivers who work for it, the carrier has chosen to punish the person who has suffered such an intolerable humiliation. The sector has fallen to a new low!
Photo credit: FROET – Federación Regional de Organizaciones Emp. de Transporte de Murcia
