Unions announce a series of strikes until end of April, including a 24-hour strike on April 6
Several unions began new strikes on Tuesday which will affect Portuguese railway operator CP and the country’s road and rail infrastructure company Infraestruturas de Portugal until the end of next month, including a 24-hour strike on April 6.
According to a statement issued by a platform of unions representing CP and IP, from today (March 28) to April 4 there will be a strike affecting IP from midnight to 2am, and until April 30, the unions will be carrying out strikes affecting IP and CP after the eighth hour of work.
In addition, “CP workers whose normal working hours cover more than three hours during the period between midnight and 5am will go on strike from the seventh hour of duty”. The same situation will apply to IP workers between April 10 and 30, the statement adds.
The largest protest is planned for April 6, when a 24-hour strike is planned.
The trade unions that make up this platform are ASCEF – Trade Union Association of Intermediate Managers of Railway Operations; SINFB – National Union of Brakemen and Similar Railway Workers; SINFA – Independent Union of Railway, Infrastructure and Similar Workers; FENTECOP – National Trade Union of Transport, Communications and Public Works; SIOFA – Independent Trade Union of Railway and Allied Workers; ASSIFECO – Independent Trade Union Association of Commercial Railway Workers; and STF – Technical Railway Services.
According to the statement, the unions predict disruptions in the circulation of CP, Fertagus, Medway and Takargo trains.
“The strikes will affect the conservation and maintenance of railways and roadways, as well as the maintenance of trains and the entire operation of the companies mentioned,” they said.
According to the unions, “on April 6, if minimum services are not decreed, no trains are expected to run in Portugal.”
“The responsibility for the financial and social impact of these forms of struggle will be the full responsibility of the government which, by not negotiating with the unions, disregards the IP and CP workers and disrespects the Portuguese citizens who use rail transportation on a daily basis,” they lament.
The National Union of Train Drivers of Portuguese Railways (SMAQ) has also announced a new strike at CP, during the whole month of April, due to the “autistic attitude and disregard” of which it accuses the company.
Source: Lusa
