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Absenteeism to "divert the focus" on occupational health ELA accuses employers of using it

The union will hold an event on 28 April in Bilbao under the slogan "Absenteeism in the Basque Country is 0%" on the occasion of International Day of Occupational Health.

GRAFCAV9428. , 30/06/2025.- Un obrero coloca unas vallas en una obra durante su horario laboral este lunes en Vitoria en una jornada en la que el consejero de Economía, Trabajo y Empleo, Mikel Torres, comparece en el Parlamento Vasco para para presentar el informe de Siniestralidad 2024 y la evaluación de la estrategia vasca de Seguridad y Salud en el trabajo 2021-2026. EFE/Adrián Ruiz-Hierro
Stock image. Photo: EFE

The ELA union accuses employers of using absenteeism to "divert the focus" on occupational health and warns that accidents at work and medical leave are " a direct consequence of precarious working conditionsdriven by employers ".

Thus, the union has announced that it will hold an event on 28 April, International Day of Occupational Safety and Health in Bilbao, under the slogan "Absenteeism in the Basque Country is 0%. Prevention against criminalization in the first line ".

ELA has stated in a statement that this initiative will bring to light "labour pressure and control practices through testimonies of specific cases", since 28 April, it has stressed, must be "aday of denunciation and mobilization and not a symbolic celebration ".

The union ensures that the rise in occupational accidents and medical casualties is not a coincidence, but a consequence of a business model that prioritizes precariousness and productivity and cost reduction over health.

It hasalso criticised the use of the term 'absenteeism' by employers, companies and the media, believing thatit suggests that workers should not go to their jobs' voluntarily 'because, in the opinion of the trade union,' the real problem in Euskal Herria is not in the terms in which it arises, nor doesit reflect objective realities'.

In this regard, ELA has warned that these speeches "are increasingly being used to justify control and punishment measures, to transfer responsibility to the working class and to help criminalize it ".

He recalls that "under this label of absenteeism, very different situations are mixed up ", such as sick or accident leave, paid leave, shorter conciliation hours, absences from medical consultations and union hours.

"Instead of addressing the structural causes of the deterioration of occupational health, measures are being promoted aimed at controlling workers, such as strengthening the role of mutual societies in the management of casualties, monitoring mechanisms or incentives to reduce temporary disabilities, "he has denounced," as they are measures that shift the focus of the problem and do not contribute to improving safety and health at work. "

That is why ELA has called for a 'change of approach' in occupational health policies based on real prevention and improved working conditions.

Its proposals include strengthening the Labour Inspectorate, increasing its workforce by 120 in the ACV and 45 in Navarre to bring it closer to the European average; increasing investment in the public health system, including mental health care; and developing effective prevention policies in companies with the participation of workers.

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