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Unions have called for improved conditions for staff at the ITV test centres; they claim employer Veiasa has a turnover of 34 million in Malaga alone and 123 million in AndalucíaJosé Rodríguez Cámara
Friday, 13 September 2024, 14:20
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Spain's CC OO and UGT unions have called a strike at all the technical vehicle inspection (ITV) stations in Malaga and in the other seven Andalusian provinces. The strike will take place on the 19, 20, 21, 23, 26, 27, 28 and 30 September, unless an agreement is reached beforehand.
The objective is the "closure of all the centres" in Andalucía. In Malaga alone 300 people are being called on to strike across nine out of the 70 ITV centres across Andalucía.
According to the figures provided by the trade unions, around 20,000 vehicles have their ITVs every day across the whole of Andalucía. The number for Malaga province is around 4,150 in the nine test centres around the province.
There are also inspections at mobile ITVs, which provide services throughout Andalucía. If multiplied by the eight days of protests, the result is more than 33,000 in the province; in Andalucía that number would be around 160,000.
Driving with expired ITV documentation entails a penalty of 200 euros, with a 50 per cent reduction if payment is made in advance, and there are also fines for anyone caught driving a vehicle that has failed its inspection. In addition, if an accident occurs, insurance companies do not cover any damages when the ITV is not in force.
In the event that a driver is requested by a traffic enforcement officer (Guardia Civil, Local Police or regional police where this competence has been transferred) and the driver cannot show these papers, proof of an appointment which has been cancelled or postponed as a result of the strike, must be shown. If an expired ITV is picked up by a camera, proof can be provided to appeal the fine the same way.
The information hotline of Verificaciones Industriales de Andalucía (Veiasa), which is the Junta de Andalucía's company that manages the ITV network, has explained that they have a standardised procedure, in the event of problems at the stations that prevent them from operating normally, whereby the driver should be warned in advance and offered an alternative way to carry out the inspection.
The CC OO and UGT protest is motivated by the impossibility, they argue, of achieving a deal Veiasa to renew the collective agreement governing their working conditions, frozen, they claim, since 2008. This prevents conditions from being adapted to the service they provide and generates situations of inequality in the workforce, such as wage differences of up to 800 euros for people doing the same job.
The strike organisers point out that Veiasa has an annual turnover in Andalucía of 123 million euros, of which 34 million euros are generated by the ITV stations in Malaga province. It is a public company, they say, which generates profits and which has reported, in the last decade, some 115 million euros to the coffers of the regional administration.
As for its work, they point out that it has a direct relationship with traffic safety, avoiding accidents, which, as CC OO and UGT quantify, save more than a hundred lives a year in Spain. The technical vehicle inspection stations in Malaga province are located in the Guadalhorce industrial estate, El Viso and El Palo, in the city; Algarrobo; San Pedro de Alcántara; Ronda; Estepona; Antequera and Las Lagunas in Mijas.
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