According to data sent by the company to Lusa, CP suppressed almost a fifth of the scheduled trains from 00:00 to 08:00 this Wednesday, 57 out of 253 scheduled, due to the train drivers’ strike.
CP – Comboios de Portugal indicates that out of 66 scheduled regional trains, 23 connections were not made, and in Lisbon city trains, 115 were scheduled and 24 were banned.
In the urban areas of Porto, 53 were planned for this period, six of which were suppressed.
As for long-distance trains, as on Tuesday, all connections (11) scheduled before 08:00 have been completed.
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”.
Workers went on strike to do any work in the categories submitted by SMAQ from the late hours of Thursday until early Saturday morning.
From Saturday 00:00 to 23:59 the following Friday (17th), workers will go on “strike” during all normal daily working hours, with an expected duration of more than seven hours and 30 minutes, for the machinist. or categories of technical machinists.
According to the union, from Saturday 00:00 to Friday 23:59, “a strike for doing work during all normal hours of daily work involving entry and/or exit from headquarters from 00:00 to 06:00:00, for those who works as a machinist or technical mechanic” and from 00:00 Tuesday to 23:59 Friday “strike during all normal working periods, the projected duration of which exceeds six hours, for the categories of Traction Inspector or Chief Traction Inspector.”
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.