Only 3 percent of the trucks transporting factory workers, especially garment-sector workers, meet the security standards enacted by the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training.
According to data released by the ministry as reported in the media, barely more than 1,100 vehicles out of 33,000 involved are in compliance. Too old, without a protection system, overloaded, driven by drivers who don’t know the traffic regulations or are downright without a driver’s license: The overwhelming majority of these vehicles are potential open-air coffins
A few days ago, two persons, that is, a driver and a passenger, were killed on the return trip from work in a frontal collision with a delivery truck that had come out of its lane to overtake a vehicle.
The National Social Security Fund has revealed that, during the first trimester of 2023, nearly 700 workers had been severely injured and that 17 workers had been killed on their way to work.
Considering the fact that there are approximately 800,000 workers in the garment sector, this figure might appear negligible, if not insignificant, for fatalist or cynical people.
Making these vehicles meet safety and health standards comes up against an economic reality: Workers want to pay the lowest amount to be shuttled, even if it’s in conditions similar to those of cattle, which would prevent the operators of the vehicles—most of them flatbed trucks usually prohibited—to pay either to replace them with buses, or to have them comply with regulations. As for employers, they don’t seem in a hurry to spend in order to help ensure compliance with the law in this matter.
In the end, this comes down to an absurd 3 percent of the trucks being in compliance. And 97 percent in violation, in full view of all. The image of respect for worker’s dignity extolled with the international sponsors and customers of the national industries is cast in a poor light.
