Lisbon, July 11, 2024 (Lusa) - Employees of Lisbon bus and tram operator Carris are holding a 24-hour strike on Thursday in protest at what they say is management's failure to respond to their demands for a real increase in pay and a 35-hour working week.
The strike began for drivers of night buses at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, while for other bus drivers and tram brakemen it started at 3 a.m. on Thursday.
According to the Union of Road and Urban Transport Workers of Portugal (STRUP), part of the Federation of Transport and Communications Unions (FECTRANS), members not employed as drivers of brakemen are on strike from midnight to midnight on Thursday.
The union emphasises that all workers who start work at any time on Thursday, or whose longest period of work falls in this day, are covered by the strike notice.
"They go on strike at the start of their working day and until the end," STRUP said in a statement. "Workers who finish their working day after midnight on that day are also covered."
The union said that an court of arbitration had ordered minimum services for the strike, including the operation of transport exclusively for the disabled, to assure transport to emergency rooms and medical centres.
According to STRUP, the court had not accepted a proposal from the company for "maximum services" including the circulation of buses.
At the last plenary session, on 19 June, Carris employees took the view that it was "unacceptable that the Carris Board of Directors continues to fail to respond to the constant demands" despite the company's "net profit of 9.5 million euros" as announced by the company in its 2023 report and accounts.
Among the demands, the workers are asking for an increase of €100 in the salary scale, an increase in the value of the food allowance for working days, progress towards a 35-hour week, including travelling time to and from the places of delivery, and a free public transport pass for the Lisbon Metropolitan Area.
According to STRUP, these demands "are essential not only for improving the living conditions of workers, but also for creating the conditions for retaining the workers needed for the public service provided by the company and for creating attractive conditions for new recruits."
STRUP is calling on workers to gather at the Pontinha bus station at 10.30 a.m. to decide "how to continue the struggle" if the company's board of directors "doesn't show up at the meeting scheduled for 23 July at 3 p.m. with an attitude that meets the central demands of this process of struggle."
At the last plenary session, STRUP was mandated to continue the process of struggle with a strike for the first two hours and the last two hours of the working day, in the week of 15-19 July.
RCP/ARO // ARO.
Lusa
