María Elena was summoned this Wednesday afternoon to the Mendigoiti school, located in the Mendillorri district of Pamplona, to return to her work in the cleaning service after a year of absence from work. With a disability recognized by the Navarrese-Osasunbidea Health Service of 49% which requires him to move around in a wheelchair. María Elena unsuccessfully asked the National Social Security Institute (INSS) to grant her permanent disability, which forced her to return to work. But early in the afternoon, while she was already preparing to go to school, she received a message from the Zaintzen company informing her that she was “exempt” from going to work. until the company receives the fitness for duty report.
On the other end of the phone, María Elena is pleased that at the last minute the company changed its position and attributes this decision to the pressure exerted by the LAB union in making her case public and bringing it to the attention of Pamplona City Hall. , which subcontracted the cleaning service of this public school. “Even so, they waited until the last minute to tell me, I was already getting dressed to go to work,” he criticizes.
At 56 years old, María Elena suffers from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue and has a 49% disability recognized by the Navarrese Health Service, which prevents her from performing movements such as pushing the cleaning cart or cleaning classrooms and the school corridors. An August 2022 medical report states that the majority of his diagnoses are “chronic in nature” and that they represent “a very significant limitation for most daily activities”, as well as “living with constant pain and fundamental repercussion also on an emotional level. level.”
Another medical report from Osasunbidea dated November 7, 2022 states that “for approximately two months, the patient has required, due to her underlying symptoms, a wheelchair to perform movements of more than 10 to 15 minutes walking”. In addition, this pain, added to the chronic fatigue from which she suffers, forces her to spend a large part of the day lying in bed.
However, and despite the reports from the Navarrese Health Service, the INSS has not recognized his permanent disability, which is why the company for which he works, while waiting to receive a suitability report from the health surveillance service , the company, had summoned her to return to work after a year of leave. Ultimately, union pressure prevented me from having to return to work for the time being. The company informed her by message that until the suitability report was provided to her, she “is exempt” from going to work “by receiving her full salary”.
