The Transport Sector Defense Platform assembly decided this morning to suspend the truckers’ strike, which came to block distribution chains in Asturias and forced several industrial plants in the region to stop. “The strike is suspended but at any moment we will stop again because the problem has not been resolved,” said José Fernández, president of the Independent Union of Autonomous Carriers of Asturias (UITA), an organization integrated into the Platform and that promoted the mobilization in the Principality.
The indefinite strike caused by rising fuel prices ended after 20 days of protests. In recent days the intensity had fallen after the Government announced a package of measures of 1,000 million euros, which includes fuel rebates and direct aid, which were negotiated with the National Transport Committee, in which it is not present Platform.
The Platform assembly met this morning at a service station in San Fernando de Henares, in Madrid, and there it decided to suspend the mobilizations. The assembly was attended by José Fernández, president of the IUF, who assured that the protest, which according to FADE has cost 300 million euros in Asturias, “has been worth it”. “It has been a historic mobilization, although we have not achieved what we set out to do, which is to be able to work without losses,” said José Fernández, who is convinced that the conflict will break out again at any moment. “The fuel aid only covers 10% of what diesel has risen in recent times and the increase in prices that shippers have accepted, who urgently need to dispose of the material accumulated during the days of strike, is not enough,” Fernandez said.