Three days later and with the country on the brink of shutting down, the government has announced the end of the truckers’ strike which had dried up pumps at almost every petrol station in Portugal.
“These were three tough days, three days of uncertainty and even of some insecurity. But it has come to an end,” Infrastructure and Planning Minister Pedro Nuno Santos said in a press conference at 8am this morning.
An agreement was finally reached during a meeting in the early hours of this morning between the government, SNMMP – the national syndicate of drivers of dangerous materials – and ANTRAM – the national merchandise transportation association.
“The situation will gradually return to normal, but it won’t happen immediately,” the minister said, explaining that many pump stations completely ran out of fuel and that it will take time before they are all filled up again.
ANTRAM says that only at around 1pm will tanker trucks start transporting fuel to petrol stations.
Negotiations between SNMMP and ANTRAM will resume on April 29.
The minister also described the strike as a “victory” for the drivers of dangerous materials as they were able to “have their voices heard”, but also said that the people in Portugal did not deserve to suffer the consequences of the strike as “we have every right to not have this problem when we want to visit our families, especially during the Easter season”.
