‘A 69-year-old man working until the afternoon to supplement his income. Then they will say it was luck and bad timing,’ the Chania Prefecture Builders’ Union said in an angry statement.

According to zarpanews.gr, the man was allegedly working at a shop in Agii Apostoli when he fell from a height of five metres. An ambulance from EKAB, the National Centre for Emergency Care, immediately arrived at the scene and transported him to Chania Hospital.

The worker suffered serious head injuries from the impact and, despite doctors’ efforts, succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday morning.

Following this workplace accident, which has been added to the long list of workplace deaths in Greece, the Chania Prefecture Builders’ Union issued a statement blaming the intensification of work and policies that have made labour rights more flexible.

The union is demanding:

‘The distribution of social insurance stamps for unregistered work, so that our older colleagues can retire.

‘The staffing of the Labour Inspectorate, so that it can carry out the necessary checks.

‘No more uninsured workers in our sector.’

The statement by the Chania Prefecture Builders’ Union

‘The glass is full, anger is overflowing.

‘Another colleague set out this morning for his daily wage, to see how he and his family would survive in the suffocating climate of high prices. Instead of returning home, he was in the ICU from yesterday and died this morning.

‘The workplace accident took place during the renovation of a large chain store in Agii Apostoli.

‘Once again, this specific workplace accident is due to the intensification of our work, to which the sector has been driven by the policies implemented over the years.

‘The workplace accident occurred after 5.30pm. This is the development that everyone is reporting.

‘A 69-year-old man working until the afternoon to supplement his income. Then they will say it was just luck and bad timing.

‘The worst thing is that, if our union had not intervened, work would have continued as normal until late at night, while their colleague was fighting for his life in intensive care.

‘The government and all previous governments bear enormous responsibility, having destroyed all workers’ rights in the name of the profitability of the big sharks.

‘We express our deepest condolences to the family.

‘We demand:

‘The distribution of social insurance stamps for unregistered work, so that our older colleagues can retire.

‘The staffing of the Labour Inspectorate, so that it can carry out the necessary checks.

‘No more uninsured workers in our sector.

‘Everyone to the sectoral strike on 24 June. No more workers’ blood.’

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