The cleaning lady fainted from the heat and was taken to the hospital

A utility worker for the municipality of Ioannina was taken to hospital on Wednesday after she fainted due to the heat while at work.

Starting Tuesday, June 25, 2024, the Municipality of Athens will open air-conditioned facilities, provide medical advice and support, and increase fire patrols in the capital's major parks and forests. These measures will apply
“as much as it takes
“, the municipality said ahead of
very hot summer.
Community centers are open daily from 9am to 9pm to provide air-conditioned shelter for vulnerable residents and visitors.

According to epiruspost, the Employees Association OTA two written reports to the municipality, dated June 4 and 10, asked to stop midday garbage collection during the summer monthssince there were already protests by utility workers at the beginning of the month. The association's statement: “All this time, the municipal authorities of Ioannina did not take any measures to protect the lives of the workers, not even providing them with cool water, so on June 20 the association submitted an application to the prosecutor's office of first instance to intervene to protect the lives of the workers.

Municipal authorities, instead of stopping the midday shift due to high temperatures, delayed its start by two hours on the previous Thursday (06/20/24), Friday (06/21/24) and Saturday (06/22/24), i.e. instead of starting at 3 p.m., they started work at 5 p.m. Today, despite the fact that the average maximum temperature in the city reached 37 degrees, the shift began regularly at 15:00 in the afternoon, as a result of which our colleague lost consciousness.

The city authorities bear full responsibility for what happened. They knew they were putting workers' health at risk, but they apparently didn't care much. Temperatures in the city center, where sidewalks and buildings radiate the heat they collect, are above the average upper temperature reported by weather stations. And the service knew about this.

The union will continue to interfere with control mechanisms that still “do not hear or see” the workers. We encourage our members to be aware if the administration continues to put our lives at risk. We don't go anywhere. We go to work and demand to be allowed to go home when our shift is over.“

As reported today “Athens News”, Athens city authorities have taken measures to help citizens and vulnerable groups cope with high temperatures and heatprotect parks and forests from fires, and help the homeless survive hot days.

PS It’s very strange that they are only now thinking about “human lives”. But there were already “the first bells”. In 2017 A cleaning lady and mother of two children died from overheating at work in the heat.

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