"If the autopsy shows it was heat stroke, we'll sue the company and the City Council."

BarcelonaThe family of Montse Aguilar, the Barcelona City Council cleaning worker who died on June 28th during the heat wave upon arriving home from work, announced this Wednesday that they will sue both the city council and the subcontracted company FCC if the final autopsy confirms that the cause of death was heat stroke. These legal actions would be taken through both social and criminal channels.

The victim's sister, Clara Aguilar, gave her version of the events at a press conference organized at the headquarters of the CGT union in the Catalan capital, the day after the first deputy mayor, Laia Bonet, appeared to address the case before the Ecology and Urban Planning Commission.

"We don't want it to ever happen again," denounced the family representative, who spoke with a framed photo of Montse wearing her work uniform at her side. They are still awaiting a judicial autopsy, which may take a few more weeks to determine the cause of death. Aguilar explained that during that workday, Montse's manager stopped by where her sister was sweeping to check she was doing the job properly and asked her how she was feeling. The worker then told her that her "neck, back, chest, and arms" hurt; and that she couldn't hold the tool properly: "The manager's response was: 'Drink this bottle of water, and if you feel bad, go home.'" The victim's sister claims that her boss didn't treat her, even though his responsibility was "to take her to a medical center or call an ambulance."

According to the family's account, that afternoon Montse was working in "36 or 37 degrees in the full sun" near Capellans Street, in the Gothic Quarter. "She was wearing a 100% polyester sweater, a material used to make coats," Clara Aguilar recounted. When the worker arrived home from work, she was tired and told her mother about the conversation with her supervisor. The last thing she did was answer a message from a coworker in which she explained that "she felt very ill and thought she was dying." She then collapsed and hit her head (the trauma listed in the preliminary autopsy as the cause of death), and her mother and a neighbor tried unsuccessfully to revive her. The ambulance crew were also unable to save her life.

Aguilar also criticized the City Council and FCC for not offering condolences for her sister's death. She also asserted that the subcontracted company's employees are being pressured not to testify if Montse's death comes to court: "We'll have a lot of trouble finding witnesses, because they're afraid of losing their jobs."

Sixteen resolutions from the Labor Inspectorate

The victim's sister appeared before the CGT's Prevention Delegate at Barcelona City Hall, Ramon Samblas, who recalled the sixteen Labor Inspectorate resolutions the union has collected between 2019 and 2024 alone on cases related to extreme temperatures at FCC. All of these proceedings ended with requests or proposed sanctions from this labor body, according to the CGT. "Montse's working conditions had been reported on numerous occasions, and her death was entirely preventable," the union member emphasized.

For example, Samblas explained how some of these files show that the air conditioning in the vehicles was not properly maintained, that there were risks of high temperatures inside the workshops, or that there were problems with the water supply. He also emphasized the inadequacy of the staff uniforms, which are "poorly breathable and hot" for times like the recent heat wave. "There's no point in having a protocol if it's not being implemented," claimed the CGT's prevention delegate. Samblas also warned that the union has counted eight cases of heat exhaustion among Barcelona street cleaning workers, including the case of Montse, in recent days. He asserted that they are not aware of any workers receiving yellow alert warnings for extreme heat.

Regarding Barcelona City Council's announcement to unify the heat protocols of its subcontracted companies, Samblas also responded that they are not aware of the workforce having received this information. Given this situation, the CGT delegate questioned the council about whether all of FCC's non-compliance in recent years would not constitute a breach of its municipal contract. Finally, he reminded workers that in the event of a "serious and imminent" risk, the occupational risk prevention law states that they have the right to stop work and, if necessary, abandon their jobs. "And these days we've seen very risky and fatal situations," he said.