Portugal: Train, rail track workers on strike over Christmas for higher wages

Train and rail track workers are holding the first day of a two-day strike on Friday to demand a pay rise to compensate for the loss of purchasing power in 2022.

Several unions representing workers of CP and IP called a strike on 23 and 26 December, demanding a financial award to compensate for the loss of purchasing power in 2022, an increase in the food subsidy and an end to “discrimination between workers.

CP posted a note on its website warning of “disturbances in the circulation of trains, nationwide”, “with possible impact on the days before and after the strike periods”, lamenting the inconvenience caused.

Customers who have bought tickets for canceled trains can request a full refund of the amount up to 10 days after the strike ends or change their train tickets to other days free of charge.

The unions that called the strike include ASCEF – Trade Union Association of Intermediate Railway Operations Managers, ASSIFECO – Independent Trade Union Association, FENTCOP – National Transport, Communications and Public Works Union, SINDEFER – National Democratic Railway Union, SINFA – Sindicato Independente dos Trabalhadores Ferroviários de Infraestruturas e Afins, SINFB – Sindicato Independente Nacional dos Ferroviários, SIOFA – Sindicato Independente dos Operacionais e Afins and STF – Sindicato dos Transportes Ferroviários.

The strike will last for 24 hours on the 23rd and 26th of this month and also provides for a “strike on overtime work, including holidays and weekly rest days, from 00:00 on 23/12 to 24:00 on 2 January 2023”.

Minimum services of 25% of trains have been defined, which, according to CP, are mainly at the beginning and end of the day, the so-called ‘rush hours’.

CP and IP workers last went on strike on 30 November, which led to the cancellation of hundreds of trains.

Agencies