Renfe has raised minimum services that reach until 81% in high speed and 75% in medium distance and near peak hours During the seven strike days convened by the unions during March and April, in protest of the absence of negotiation of the operator and the Ministry of Transportation in the transfer of Rodalies to the Generalitat, the assignment of a railway section and the entrance of MSC in the merchandise subsidiary.
The strikes are scheduled for the days 17, 19, 24, March 26 and 28as well as the April 1 and 3. There will be 24 -hour strikes on March 17 and 26 and April 1, while on the other dates the strikes will be partial in different time slots. The calendar coincides with high mobility days, such as the celebration of failures in Valencia, where Renfe has scheduled reinforcements.
Consequently, Renfe has raised minimum services that would reach until 81% in high -speed and long distance trains, 75% in the middle distance and 75% near rush hour, reducing 50% in the rest of the day. In the case of merchandise transport, the percentage is 28%. The unions have rejected these thresholds for considering them excessive and denounce that they convert the strike into a “mere procedure”, limiting their impact on the railway operation.
The General Company Committee, composed of CCOO, UGT, Semaf, SF and CGT, said Thursday its rejection of the minimum proposed services, considering that they limit the impact of strikes. Specifically, they argue that these minimum services convert the strikes into a “mere procedure” and prevent the right to strike into effective conditions. He Ministry of Transportation must determine the final framework of essential services in the next few days.
Reasons of the strike in Renfe and Adif
The unions justify the call in what they consider a breach of the agreements signed in November 2023 with the Ministry of Transport. At that time, Renfe and Adif promised to guarantee the integrity of their templates and operations in Rodalies and goods, in addition to establishing work groups to negotiate changes in the service.
According to the General Company Committee, this pact of jointly negotiate the changes has not been respected. The workers argue that they have not been included in the negotiation tables and demand greater participation in decisions about Rodalies and Renfe merchandise.
The union representatives criticize that the agreement between the Government and the Generalitat implies the creation of a new commercial company with the majority participation of the Catalan Executive and the exclusion of a section of the R-1 line of the Railway Network of General Interest (RFIG). According to unions, this restructuring will mean a increase in costs and less interoperability with the rest of the Spanish and European rail network.
As for Renfe merchandise, the unions denounce that MSC’s entry as an industrial partner responds to a “Decapitalization process“which could lead to a privatization of the public subsidiary. They accuse the company of the company not to attend new load contracts and to hinder customer collection, which would be favoring Medway, the MSC group operator.
#Renfe #raises #minimum #services #vicinity #AVE #strikes #March #April
