More than 1,500 Murcian carriers will support the indefinite national strike

Archive image of the carrier protest last March. / Guillermo Carrión / AGM

They denounce that non-compliance with the law that prohibits working at a loss has reduced the salary of professionals by 40%

«Trucker drivers cannot assume a 30% increase in costs, without our salary having increased. It doesn’t pay to go out to work,” lamented the carrier and spokesperson for the National Platform for the Defense of the Road Freight Transport Sector in the Region of Murcia, Ester Sampietro. This is the reason why more than 1,500 Murcian carriers belonging to this organization, which includes the self-employed and small companies in the sector, will support the national strike called from Monday, November 14 indefinitely. This platform is a minority organization of transport professionals that is not integrated into the National Committee, the Government’s interlocutor with the sector.

The platform explains that the announced strike is the result of continued “total and absolute” non-compliance with Royal Decree-Law 14/2022, of August 1, on economic sustainability measures in the field of transport, which prohibits working at a loss and obliges shippers to pay prices that cover the costs of the service. “There are many shippers who are paying freight below the cost price. We have not even been able to affect the rise in fuel because they are not willing to pay, “said Sampietro.

The platform denounces that carriers receive 40% less salary, with insurance that guarantees the minimum essential, and having to unload the goods themselves at destination to save a salary. Among the measures claimed is a new package of 450 million direct aid, in addition to those already approved in 2021 and in April 2022 such as the 20-cent discount. In addition, they demand the prohibition of drivers loading and unloading, the limitation of waiting times in loading and unloading areas to one hour, the reinforcement of transport inspection or aid for abandoning the profession.

According to data from the organization, each month they are forced to close between 200 and 250 companies throughout Spain. “There are many families that live off transportation, and those that have had to take advantage of the Second Chance Law in order to get ahead, leaving behind mortgages and debts that cost us the maintenance of our vehicle. There are even colleagues who have seen no other way out than to take their own lives. We are in a dramatic situation,” said the regional spokeswoman.

Mobilizations in March

The Platform in Defense of Transport also called a strike in March due to the rise in fuel prices, which lasted for twenty days, and altered the functioning of the supply chains.

For this reason, after yesterday’s announcement of this new call, several companies in the agri-food and hospitality value chain, led by the agricultural companies Coag and UPA, asked that “the serious incidents of March” not be repeated. As an essential and strategic sector, they affirmed that “the time has come for the Government to adopt measures that guarantee the proper functioning of the food chain and the supply of food and beverages to the entire population in any exceptional situation.” They also requested to guarantee “the safety and right to work of carriers who do not want to support the strike.”

The protest comes with the extension of the pending fuel aid

With just over a month and a half to go until the end of the year and a large part of the anti-crisis measures approved throughout 2022 to decline, the Government continues to study what to do with one of the most important from a social and economic point of view: the bonus of 20 euro cents per liter in fuel refueling for all users and without limit.

The deliberation within the Government (the Ministries of Transport, Finance, Ecological Transition and Economy are immersed) has coincided with the new protest announced by part of the transport sector starting next Monday, although on this occasion they do not claim a fuel reduction, but to solve the internal problems of the work and production chain. In any case, the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, pointed out yesterday that the Government is “about” to make that decision, which will be known “in a few weeks.” She explained that the measures considered most effective will be taken and affirmed that the Executive is aware that the transport sector is the most affected by the rise in fuel prices.