Employees of Coimbra’s Urban Transport will initiate a five-day strike starting this Monday, accusing the government of failing to progress in negotiations. The municipality describes the strike as a political rather than a union struggle.
The strike, scheduled from Monday to April 30, was decided during a workers’ plenary on Tuesday, continuing a campaign that began with a two-day stoppage in February and three in March.
A planned April strike was suspended following a meeting scheduled with the government for that month.
“The decision was unanimous, and the meeting didn’t last even an hour,” stated Luísa Silva, regional coordinator of the Local Administration Workers’ Union (STAL), explaining the decision was due to a lack of progress, despite a meeting scheduled with the government.
According to the union leader, workers decided to suspend the four-day strike in April due to a scheduled meeting with the government and Coimbra City Hall on the 29th of that month, which was canceled due to a power outage the day before.
A subsequent meeting was rescheduled for May 27 “without an agenda or documents” to address the workers’ issues, who demand salary improvements and career reinstatement, Silva noted.
“Workers felt that since the first meeting on March 17, too much time had passed without any work on the issue,” she recalled, noting the commitment to prepare the dossier before the elections for the incoming government.
Silva added that workers and unions will go to Lisbon on Tuesday for a meeting with the government at the Ministry of Finance, admitting that based on the outcomes, the remaining three days of the strike could be called off.
Contacted for comment, the Mayor of Coimbra, José Manuel Silva, expressed surprise at the five-day strike call, recalling that the meeting between the government, council, and unions was canceled due to the power outage “and not due to a lack of goodwill.”
“We immediately informed about the new meeting date, May 27, as conditions were not met for meetings during the electoral campaign. The government and the council acted in good faith,” he asserted.
The mayor highlighted that among the four municipalities with municipalized transport services, the only one “attempting to solve the issue is the only one facing a strike,” describing the struggle as having a “strong political nature,” disadvantaging residents, especially the poorer ones.
José Manuel Silva stated the negotiation process “was progressing well,” with Coimbra City Hall offering a 15% base salary subsidy for drivers, demanding an annual effort of 820,000 euros from the municipality. “This temporary solution does not prevent career reintroduction, which we agree with,” he emphasized.
Asked about the possibility of calling off the remaining strike days after Tuesday’s meeting, Silva expressed skepticism.
“I don’t know the criteria for calling off the strike, as I don’t understand the criteria for calling the strike,” he said.
This will be the third strike by SMTUC workers this year, after two days in February and three in March, as part of a gradual campaign increasing by a day each month until September, the month when local elections are expected, amounting to 40 days of stoppage.
