Not only among the workers who reform the Camp Nou There are alleged labor frauds. The cleaners who keep the stadium, canteens and other facilities in good condition also denounce days of more than 10 hours a day for salaries that barely exceed 1,000 euros per month. “They make us work as if we were robots,” he complains. Marie, a woman who has been subcontracted for cleaning for three months and who asks to use a pseudonym for fear of reprisals. Complaints from cleaners and electricians, such as Assane, in charge of dismantling wiring and who also asks to appear under a pseudonym. “They don’t pay us well, they don’t respect the hours we work or our rights,” laments the worker.
Are a thousand gross euros per month for 56 hours a week fair conditions? “They comply with the agreement,” was the response given to EL PERIÓDICO by the institutional vice president of the Barcelona Football Club and head of Espai Barça. Elena Fort.
An incorrect statement both in the case of the construction agreement of the province of Barcelona, nor in that of iron and steel industries, which are two of the most applied specifications currently among Camp Nou subcontractors. According to the payrolls to which this media has been able to have access of these two employees, the salary reduction would be about 800 gross euros per month, plus unpaid overtime.
An extension of the day not in accordance with the agreement and dangerous. This same Monday International Labor Organization (ILO) has published a report in which it estimates 745,000 workers who die every year around the world for working more than 55 hours a week.
Despite the nervousness, fear and coercion that reign among the employees of the companies subcontracted by Limak, the one in charge of the stadium works, more and more workers are willing to denounce their working conditions. After watching the EL PERIÓDICO documentary, Marié and Asane wanted to share their work situation to demonstrate to public opinion what they consider “abusive conditions“”Barça says that this is legal… I don’t know if it is legal, but I do know that it is very unfair,” she insists.
“They forced us to say that we worked 8 hours”
Marié started working at the Camp Nou construction site in June as a cleaner. There was no interview, the woman explains. “They called me and told me, come to Camp Nou tomorrow to clean the bathrooms. But when I got there they made me clean the hallways, the offices, the workers’ dining room… we had to clean the entire work,” she explains. She says that her workday began at eight in the morning until seven in the afternoon, with a half hour of rest in the morning and an hour for lunch. On Saturdays she worked from eight in the morning to three thirty in the afternoon, with a half-hour break. That is, a total of 57 hours each week. “When the inspection people came to ask us how much we were workingthe bosses forced us to tell them that we worked 8 hours“, Explain.
The conditions that Marié explains clearly contradict those specified in her contract. It stipulates a working day from Monday to Saturday of a maximum of 40 hours per week, as evidenced by the documentation that the worker shows to this medium. A specification that, legally, leaves no room for interpretation or compensation for the accumulated extension of the working day with breaks in coming months.
“It’s very hard, you can’t rest for a minute, if they see you stop they’ll kick you out,” explains this single mother who has been in Catalonia for more than 20 years, separated from her son, who is in Africa. Some days, Marié explains, the company did not provide her with essential protective equipment. “I had to bring gloves from home. There were days when we worked all day with bleach and without a mask.” But, as she tells it, the worst of all was the fatigue and pain. “My whole body hurts: my back, my hands, my knees… if I didn’t take paracetamol and ibuprofen it was impossible to go to work.”
She was fired a few weeks ago, she did not even sign the termination and she has not received any severance pay, according to the documentation she shows. Not following the minimum formalities in the event of dismissal implies that a judge can automatically declare the inadmissibility of the same. But for this it is necessary to file a lawsuit in court during the 20 business days after termination.
Marié explains that her case is not unique and that she is taking the step to publicly denounce it because she no longer works at that company. This newspaper has contacted other cleaners currently working at the Camp Nou. They explain conditions very similar to Marié’s, but they refuse to show all her documentation and go to Work inspection. “This job is not easy, but I have to endure… I don’t want problems,” says one of the interviewees.
Sleep three hours with another job
“I’m exhausted, I can’t take it anymore, I’m very sleepy,” says Asane at eight in the morning, about to start his workday at the Camp Nou. He has been working since the beginning of July dismantling electrical wiring at the construction site. He works exactly the same schedule as Marié. In the three payrolls that he shows to this newspaper, he does not appear in any of them, not even an overtime hour charged. As stipulated in his contract, his working day is 40 hours per week.
And according to that same document, the Barcelona metal agreement should govern him in the official category. He receives gross salaries of between 1,100 and 1,300 euros, depending on the month, when, by agreement, he should be receiving between 1,799.01 and 1,853.93 euros gross, depending on seniority. Plus Christmas and summer payments. “They are failing to pay them between 780 and 850 euros each month. A shame,” says a union source consulted. The law establishes, in addition to the payment of the amounts owed, a fine of between 751 and 7,500 euros for a “Serious offense“.
“The money they pay me for the works doesn’t give me anything. I have to pay for the apartment, food and send money to my family…” he continues. On Fridays and Saturdays she works from ten at night to four in the morning as a security guard at a nightclub. “There are days when I only sleep three hours… I can’t take it anymore, I can’t go on like this,” she laments.
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The man, with five months of Camp Nou renovation behind him, speaks of degrading treatment. “The managers yell at us and treat us badly.” He also explains that he had to buy all his work clothes. “It’s almost 100 euros that no one has paid me,” he says. Work clothes must always be provided by the contracting company or, failing that, a compensatory extra must be paid. But what upsets him most is not having been paid for even one of the extra hours worked.
Assane tells his case very scared, as he is waiting to renew his work and residence permit in Spain. “If they throw me out on the street I won’t be able to renew the papers and I will stay on the street,” he continues. His story is not an isolated case at the Camp Nou. Born in sub-Saharan Africa, he left school as a child to work in construction. He suffered an accident and still has consequences on his back. “Doctors and friends tell me to quit this job, it’s going to kill me, but I need it. I can’t find anything else and I can’t stay without papers. When I manage to renew the papers I’ll ‘fire’, this is indecent,” he says.