The first of two days of strike action by CP workers at Lisbon’s Oriente station has reached 100%, according to a source from the Federation of Transport and Communications Unions (Fectrans).
CP – Comboios de Portugal workers at the Oriente station are on strike today and Friday due to worsening working conditions.
“There is 100% adherence to the strike. All 33 ticket office, management and customer service workers have joined the strike. The workers are protesting against the failure to resolve problems and the worsening of working conditions, which has reached an unacceptable limit at this station,” Abílio Carvalho, from Fectrans, told Lusa, stressing that the strike is not affecting train traffic.
According to the trade unionist, the problems have been going on for years, and some were promised by the administration to be resolved years ago, but never materialized.
“There are many problems affecting the workers, including power failures, leaks and water in the ticket offices and over the counters, computer equipment and malfunctions in the automatic payment terminals and intercoms,” he said.
Abílio Carvalho also highlighted problems in the workers’ changing rooms, which are also used as a storage room for CP’s archives, and the broken and unmaintained air conditioning units.
“The customer service office has no conditions, it’s dilapidated and constantly smells nauseating, the walls need painting and deep cleaning,” she said.
The workers also complain about the conditions of the place where they take their meals, “which is often overcrowded and unable to accommodate all the workers who need to eat”.
“They are also asking for some parking spaces for the workers, especially when they travel at certain times, and monitors inside the ticket offices with information about the lines and train delays,” he said.
According to FECTRANS, the management “of CP justifies the failure to resolve the problems with the works planned at the station for the High Speed Railway, which could take place in 2030”.
“The workers say they are “tired of promises and want their problems solved immediately”.
