The associations of the Platform in Defense of Transport agree in a tight vote to wait for the Ministry’s proposals
The carriers will not carry out the announced stoppages for the time being. The result of the vote held last Sunday by the associations linked to the Platform for the Defense of the Transport Sector – which was the one that urged the mobilizations last March – was 41% in favor of the strike compared to 45%. against, in addition to 14% abstentions. Therefore, the carriers choose the path of negotiation with the Government before paralyzing the transport of goods again, as happened three months ago.
In this way, they decide to wait to see what the Government proposes to apply the food chain law that prohibits them from working at a loss, the great problem of the sector, sources from the platform assure. “Due to a very tight result, the carriers decide not to reactivate the strike at this time and enter into the negotiation of the development of the law, with the Platform participating in it as a fundamental part and representative of the grassroots sector,” they explain.
A negotiation with the Government that they secured before the vote, when they received a call from a spokesman for the Ministry of Transport summoning them to an urgent meeting to deliver the draft of the law that prohibits the hiring of transport losses. And its commitment is that before July 31 the final text is prepared after having negotiated with the representatives of the Platform and its legal processing begins. Even so, they warn that this does not mean backing down, but that the strike continues to be suspended with the possibility of reactivating “at any time” if the negotiation is not favorable or the dates are not as promised.
«The strike can be resumed at the moment in which the Executive threatens not to solve our problems»
The delegate of the National Transport Platform in Murcia, Ester Sampietro, explained to LA VERDAD that, after the assembly held at the headquarters of the Regional Transport Federation (Froet), in which nearly a hundred professionals from the sector participated, «It was agreed to sit down to negotiate with the central government, although we are very clear that unemployment is still there, and we will see if we finally do it or not. For now we will wait for events to unfold.” She sampietro added that “the strike can be reactivated at the moment in which the central government threatens not to solve our problems, since we are experiencing a quite complicated situation.”
The food chain law, which is already applied in the agricultural sector, has the objective of regulating that the price received by the trucker for his services is always equal to or greater than his costs, so as not to have to go out to work at a loss, the great claim of the Platform convening the March mobilizations. The truckers’ strike began with isolated work stoppages and ended up paralyzing much of the country. It lasted a little over three weeks but was losing strength once the Ministry of Transport reached an agreement –after several days of negotiation– with the sector’s employers, the National Committee for Road Transport (CNTC). This pact included a bonus of 20 cents per liter of fuel and direct aid to truck drivers.
#Carriers #agree #resume #strike #negotiate #Government