The CP strike led, this Monday, to the suppression of 59 of the 252 trains scheduled until 8 am, most on the Urbanos de Lisboa and Regional service, according to CP – Comboios de Portugal.
According to the information disclosed, between 00:00 and 08:00, of the 113 trains scheduled in Urbanos de Lisboa, 25% (22.1%) were canceled, in Urbanos do Porto of the 52 scheduled, six (11.5% ) and in Urbanos de Coimbra, half of the eight planned connections were fulfilled.
In the Regional service, 67 trains were scheduled and the strike forced the suppression of 23 (34.3%) and, in the Long Distance, only one of the 12 scheduled trains did not run.
On March 28, several unions started new strikes in the railway sector, which include Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) and CP, until the end of this month.
After several days of strike between 00:00 and 2:00 and a whole day last Thursday, until April 30th, the stoppage at IP and CP will be from the eighth hour of service.
Until the end of the month, “at CP, workers whose normal work period covers more than three hours during the period between 00:00 and 05:00, will go on strike from the seventh hour of service” and, between today and April 30, at IP, “workers whose normal work period covers more than three hours during the period between 00:00 and 05:00, will go on strike from the seventh hour of service” .
These strikes were decreed by a platform of unions composed of ASCEF – Union Association of Intermediate Managers of Railway Exploration; the SINFB – National Union of Braçais and Related Railway Workers; o SINFA – Independent Union of Railway, Infrastructure and Related Workers; o FENTECOP – National Union of Transport, Communications and Public Works; SIOFA – Independent Union of Railway Workers and the like; ASSIFECO – Independent Trade Union Association of Commercial Railroad Workers and STF – Railway Technical Services.
The National Union of Drivers of the Portuguese Railways (SMAQ) also announced a new strike at CP, throughout the month of April, in view of the “disregarding attitude” of which it accuses the company.
Among the demands of the workers are “effective salary increases”, the “valuation of the traction career” and the improvement of working conditions in the driving cabins and social facilities and the safety conditions on the lines and parks for the protection of motor material.
Still in demand is a “humanization of duty rosters, fixed meal times and a reduction in rest away from headquarters”, an “effective psychological follow-up protocol for train drivers in the event of people being caught on the track and accidents” and the “recognition and appreciation of the professional requirements and training of train drivers by the new legislative framework”.
