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ARCHIVED - Murcia truck drivers and transport workers take to the picket lines in strike action
The striking workers claim transport companies tried to send them abroad on long jobs before the strike began today
A strike by truck drivers and workers in the road transport sector in the Region of Murcia began this morning with a protest in front of the headquarters of the Regional Federation of Transport Organisations and Companies in Murcia (FROET).
There, a picket line was set up to stop lorries and vans from leaving while the strikers held them back one by one for five minutes each “to inform them of the demands” of workers.
Negotiations between lorry drivers and FROET broke down over a disagreement about payment of a mileage bonus, among other issues. The workers argue that they should be paid for hours worked, while the employers consider that this concept is paid as part of the payment for kilometres travelled.
“When you are thousands of kilometres away from home and you have to eat, are you working?” wondered one of the truck drivers on the picket line today.
The strike began with accusations from the truckers that employers have tried to boycott the strike by sending their workers abroad: “Until midnight we could not refuse to work, and many have taken advantage of this to send a lot of colleagues on trips abroad, forcing them to stay away during the days of the strike.”
The secretary general of the trade union CCOO, Santiago Navarro, underscored that the negotiation of the agreement has gone nowhere for almost three years now: “We have been trying to reach an agreement since 2019, and I would ask the president of the Community, Fernando López Miras, to reconsider the type of collective bargaining we have in this region”.
The strike that starts this Thursday, December 23, will continue until January 2, although the possibility of extending it to allow lorry drivers who are currently travelling abroad to join in is being considered.
Image: Federación de Servicios a la Ciudadanía CCOO RM
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