The train drivers’ strike forced 44 of the 314 trains scheduled to run from 00:00 to 12:00 this Sunday to stop, while the remaining 270 were sent, according to CP – Comboios e Portugal.
The company’s balance sheet thus indicates a suppression of 14% of the total number of scheduled trains, and for regional trains this percentage reached 25.6% with 23 of the 90 trains scheduled by the company suppressed.
In the city of Lisbon, 130 were planned, 13 suppressed and 117 carried out, while in Porto Urbana 56 of the 63 planned were held, with seven suppressed.
In Coimbra, the strike during this period had no effect, as the planned nine flights were carried out.
In the far direction, 21 connections were made out of 22 planned, which means that only one train was canceled.
The strike was called by the National Union of Portuguese Railway Drivers (SMAQ) against the latest proposal for a €51 wage increase, representing an average career advancement of 3.89%, which the union structure considers “clearly unacceptable”.
Thus, the workers were on strike to do any work from the categories presented by SMAQ from the last hours of the 9th to the first hours of the 11th.
According to the union, from 00:00 on the 11th to 23:59 on the 17th, “a strike to provide work for all normal daily work periods, the expected duration of which exceeds seven hours and 30 minutes, for the Category of Machinist or Technical Machinist.”
From 00:00 on the 11th to 23:59 on the 17th, they hold a “work strike for all normal hours of daily work that involve entering and/or leaving headquarters from 00:00 to 06:00.” , for train drivers or technical drivers”, and from 00:00 on the 14th to 23:59 on the 17th “a strike for all normal working periods, the expected duration of which exceeds six hours, for the traction inspector or head of the Traction Inspector Category.”
The arbitral tribunal ruled that the minimum service at the national level is about 30%, as well as what is necessary for the safety and maintenance of equipment and installations, as well as emergency services and rescue trains.
In February, strikes organized by various Communist Party unions led to the suppression of hundreds of convoys a day.