Bar workers on CP’s long-distance trains have suspended the strike they were due to stage from today after union representatives reached an agreement with Newrail for a 10% pay rise.
“The strike was suspended because there was an agreement to negotiate wage increases of 10%,” Luis Trindade, from the leadership of the Union of Workers in the Hotel, Tourism, Restaurant and Similar Industry in the South, told Lusa.
The strike, which was suspended following this agreement, would begin today and was scheduled for an indefinite period, with the demand for “decent pay rises” being part of the list of demands, along with “payment for overtime work”, “better working conditions”, “full compliance with the Company Agreement” and “against the closure and restrictions of cafeteria and bar services on trains”.
In the statement announcing the strike, the union said that “despite repeated problems with the concession of the cafeteria and bar service on long-distance trains [Intercidades and Alfa Pendular] over the years, CP has opted to re-concession this service to private companies through a million-dollar contract signed in 2023 with Newrail, refusing to internalize the service and integrate the workers into its workforce”.
The union points out that “in 2024 the contract with Newrail was renewed for a minimum period of 3 months and a maximum of 6 months”, indicating that in 2023 “the amounts allocated to Newrail were intended to pay the wages owed to the 130 workers and normalize the cafeteria and bar service on the trains”.
An international tender is currently underway for the concession to operate the service, but this was “no impediment to negotiating wage increases”, said Luís Trindade.
