ARCHIVED - Spanish tow trucks threaten national strike over pay rates
Vehicle recovery companies are considering “total or partial suspension” of roadside assistance in Spain
After initial talks came to a standstill back in July, the National Roadside Assistance Alliance will make a final decision on September 22 on whether tow trucks, called ‘grúas’ in Spanish, will launch a national strike. Negotiations have resumed this month with representatives of insurance companies, automotive groups and travel assistance platforms, but the threat of industrial action still hangs in the air.
Tow truck companies are demanding higher compensation, arguing that the amount paid out by insurance firms and the like doesn’t come close to the covering the cost of the 24-hour, 365-day emergency services they provide.
The sector plans to meet next week at the International Rescue, Assistance and Emergency Fair (Fireca) in Seville, where the alliance and the other affected organisations will make a call on how they wish to proceed, “which could include the total or partial suspension of the travel assistance and assistance service in Spain”.
“The problems that this sector is experiencing are the direct responsibility of the insurance companies and intermediaries, who have not yet generally reviewed their rate tables in relation to fuel price increases, and put the normal provision of the activity at risk,” the organisation stated.
Tow truck companies have reported devastating losses this year as a result of increased costs, with 63% of businesses in the red. It was a bitter pill to swallow then when insurers “published their results for the first half of 2022 with profits of 2,662 million euros, 9.3% more than the previous year.”
The sector claims that the current rates make it impossible to recruit new staff to cover its roadside assistance responsibilities, “which will shortly mean a lack of service and decrease in road safety, caused by this economic situation.”
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