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Lusa - Business News - Portugal: Train drivers announce more strikes for April![]()
Lisbon,March.24,2023(Lusa)- The National Union of Train Drivers of Portuguese Railways (SMAQ) announced on Friday another strike on incumbent train operator CP, during the whole month of April, due to the "autistic attitude and disregard" of which it accuses the company. "The SMAQ said in a press release that "neither the ministry nor CP has taken any steps to resolve the ongoing labour conflict, in an autistic attitude and disregard for the workers and the difficulties that they and their families are going through in these times of galloping inflation". According to SMAQ, "even issues that need urgent resolution and that depend exclusively on CP are not solved". Workers with the categories of driver or technical machinist will be on strike from 1 to 30 April for all normal daily work periods with an expected duration of more than seven and a half hours, or that imply entries and/or exits at the head office between 00:30 and 06:00. In turn, from 17 to 21 April, workers with the categories of traction inspector or chief traction inspector will be on strike for all normal work periods scheduled to last over six hours. Also under the terms of the statement issued today, during the entire month of April, all workers of the categories represented by SMAQ will be on strike for the entire period of service whenever they are assigned a normal daily work period whose schedule is not on the roster in force on the date the strike begins. In April, train drivers and technical drivers will also strike in "all periods of service whose content violates the CP/SMAQ 2022 company agreement", and all workers of the categories represented by SMAQ will stop "whenever their period of service provides for a rest away from headquarters and provided that the time elapsed between the start of the working day at headquarters and the end of the working day after the rest away from headquarters exceeds 30 hours". Finally, between 16 and 22 April, workers of the categories represented by SMAQ will be on strike "for all overtime work, including work on weekly rest days". Among the workers' demands are "effective salary increases", the "valuation of the traction career", and the improvement of working conditions in the driver's cabins and social facilities and of safety conditions on the lines and in the engine rooms. Also demanded is a "humanisation of the work schedules, controlled meal times and reduction of rest periods away from headquarters", an "effective protocol for psychological monitoring of drivers in case of collisions with people on the track and accidents", and the "recognition and valuation of the professional requirements and training of drivers in the new legislative framework". In February and March, strikes called by several CP unions led to the cancellation of hundreds of trains per day. PD/ADB // ADB. Lusa Agency : LUSA Date : 2023-03-25 12:11:00
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