MADRID, 6 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

CC.OO. and UGT will gather this Wednesday, June 7, at 12:00 p.m. in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration in Madrid, to demand the implementation of measures that guarantee early retirement for professional drivers.

The unions have declared this day as the "fight for the early retirement of professional drivers", after last year they also gathered on the same day, in this case in front of the Ministry of Transport headquarters , Mobility and Urban Agenda.

The unions argue that the carriers carry out a job with "a large number of hours in the driving position, shift work, rest in the cabin in freight transport, cargo handling and night work."

To this they add "suffering fatigue, sleep disorders, cardiovascular and respiratory problems, stress, exposure to pollutants, exposure to extreme temperatures, ergonomic risks and osteoarticular disorders, forced postures and musculoskeletal disorders, exposure to noise and vibrations, social isolation, psychosocial risks and impossibility of reconciling work and family".

In this sense, in 2021, the sector ranked second in the incidence rate of fatal work accidents, only behind the extractive industries.

For this reason, they justify that age is a determining factor in the loss or reduction of motor (mobility problems), sensory (sight and hearing) and cognitive abilities, so that an elderly person behind the wheel "poses a risk to the own and third-party road safety".

Thus, they request legal coverage of reduction coefficients for the advancement of retirement age as in other professions (sea workers, railway personnel, local police and flight personnel, among others), despite the fact that since 2009 it includes the transport of people and goods by road as priority activity sectors due to its high accident rate and exposure to factors of hardship, danger and toxicity.