The participation of Carris workers, drivers and brakemen in a 24-hour strike for salary increases and 35 hours of work per week was over 90% at around 8am, union leader Manuel Leal told Lusa.
“I can’t give an exact membership number yet, but it’s clear that we have a membership of over 90%”, said Manuel Leal, from the Union of Road and Urban Transport Workers in Portugal (STRUP), to Lusa, praising ” all drivers and brakemen who from 10pm last night [quarta-feira] they are participating heavily in this 24 hour strike”.
According to the trade unionist, very few buses and trams were running around 8am as to what the typical service provided should be.
“We will have a plenary session, a meeting at Pontinha station around 10:30 am to discuss the situation and the measures to be taken regarding the process of developing the struggle to achieve the demands”, he said.
Carris workers, drivers and brakemen, are going on a 24-hour strike this Thursday in protest against the administration’s lack of response to demands for a real pay increase and progress towards a 35-hour work week.
Carris workers this past Thursday are on strike for a salary increase and 35 hours of work
Network workers started the strike from dawn until 10pm on Wednesdayand for the remaining traffic workers it started at 3am this Thursday.
According to STRUP, which is linked to the Confederation of Transport and Communication Trade Unions (FECTRANS), the fixed sectors in strike between 00:00 and 23:59 this Thursday.
The union argues that all workers who start their working period before 00:00 Thursday, or whose longest working period corresponds to that date, are covered by a strike notice.
The structure of the union states that the The Arbitral Court ordered minimal services for the strike, seeing as necessary, in particular, the operation of the exclusive transport for disabled people, the emergency room and the medical post.
According to STRUP, the Court of Arbitration did not accept the proposal of the company, which wanted “maximum services”, regarding the circulation of the buses.
In the last plenary session, on June 19, the workers considered it “unacceptable for the Board of Directors of Carris (CA) to continue without responding to the ongoing demands”, despite the company’s “net profit of 9.5 million euros” accepted by the company i. report and accounts 2023.
Among the demands, workers demand an increase of 100 euros on the salary scale, an increase in the value of the food allowance, an increase to 35 hours a weekincluding travel time to and from the surrender locations, and a pass to the Lisbon Metropolitan Area.
In the last plenary session, STRUP was given a mandate to continue the struggle process with a strike in the first and last two hours of daily working hours, in the week of 15 to 19 July.