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Spanish railway strike called off at eleventh hour
The proposed Renfe and Adif strike caused the cancellation of 1,500 trains across Spain
Just hours before railway workers up and down Spain were due to begin a series of 24-hour work stoppages on Black Friday, the unions have come to an agreement with the Ministry of Transport and the 5 days of industrial action have been cancelled.
In protest against President Sánchez’s deal to hand over the management of Catalonia’s commuter train services to the regional government, all Renfe and Adif workers agreed to down tools on November 24 and 30, as well as on December 1, 4 and 5. More than 1,500 trains across Spain were cancelled in anticipation of the strike.
Sources from the CCOO union have confirmed that the Ministry has offered the workers’ representatives “guarantees” that the transfer of Rodalies to the Catalan government won’t alter working conditions or pay in any way.
Renfe, who had booked passengers of the cancelled services onto alternative services, has already begun to notify customers, who will once again be able to travel as originally planned.
The new Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, who only took office on Tuesday, described the strike as “unjustified”, because it occurred before the transfer negotiation began. This, however, was just the issue that Renfe and Adif workers had: the deal was announced in order to secure Sánchez’s investiture more than a week ago without a scrap of information about how it would affect current employees.
The transfer impacts approximately 2,500 Renfe workers and another 1,500 Adif staff. In the last few hours, the Catalan government has also promised that an agreement will be drawn up as soon as possible that guarantees the rights of railway employees.
Image: Renfe
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