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“Firstly, it seems inconceivable to me that the mayor was informed, the night before at 8 PM, that there is a plenary meeting. Therefore, it’s not a strike, but a plenary that will halt all metro operations.” said Carlos Moedas in a statement.
The Lisbon Metro announced on Wednesday that it will halt operations and close all stations from 8 PM today due to the workers’ plenary, describing the unions’ initiative — scheduled from 9:15 PM to 2:30 AM on Friday — as “unprecedented and unusual”.
The mayor emphasized that learning about the plenary 24 hours in advance does not allow for “minimum services”, as it is not a strike, and this will impact Lisbon residents on “the city’s most important night”, the eve of Santo António.
Carlos Moedas said he had to “quickly think of alternatives” and, besides Carris, he contacted Carris Metropolitana, which operates in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, to “assist”.
“I made the decision this morning to ask Carris to provide free bus rides from six in the evening […], throughout the night, thus offering people the opportunity to take buses,” he explained.
Carlos Moedas noted that the Lisbon city transport operator “is on a 24-hour strike” ending at midnight, but despite this, “operations are ongoing”, with “around 15% of workers participating” in the protest and “crew at around 40%”.
“Therefore, Carris is operational, and within Carris, we will offer this free service. We are in contact and awaiting the response from the Metropolitan Area, as it is crucial, and we ask for patience from the people, because this is the most important day for Lisbon, and for the first time, there is a plenary decision on this night,” he added.
In a note released by the Lisbon City Council, the municipality states that “Carris bus rides will be free from 6:00 PM until 8:00 AM the following Friday morning”.
Carlos Moedas stressed that the plenary “could have been held tomorrow [Friday] or the day after [Saturday]”, arguing that holding it today has “very clear political motivations”.
“I think Lisbon residents will not forget that on the most important night of our city, there was a decision by a state-owned company, in this case not municipal, to have a plenary meeting to essentially stop the city,” he insisted, reiterating his efforts to find solutions.
However, he added, there were “few hours to find solutions” that could have been “thought differently”, and there was no “institutional respect for the mayor”, who could have been informed a week ago about the plenary meeting.
Carlos Moedas also emphasized that he will always respect the right to strike, “a constitutional right”, but today’s case is that there is “a plenary that could have been held on another day”.
“This makes no sense, especially on such an important day for Lisbon. It’s the Lisbon residents who are being harmed by these decisions and political motivations [and] we are harming an entire city. I think it’s unacceptable. This crosses a line,” he lamented.
Despite Lisbon Metro’s appeal to reschedule today’s plenary due to the impact on services during the Santos Populares festivities, workers will proceed with the plenary from 8:00 PM, a union source said.
In a statement, the company highlighted that the unions’ call for the plenary expressly invites “all workers to participate, not considering the need to ensure urgent and essential services” due to Lisbon’s Santos Populares celebrations.
Contacted, Sara Gligó of the Transport and Communications Workers Federation (Fectrans) confirmed the plenary will proceed and refuted the company’s statements.
“It’s neither an unprecedented nor unusual idea. We often hold plenaries at night, and regarding the claims that there is no material for negotiation leading to this issue, I remind you that there are 14 matters that, if addressed, would have resolved this plenary,” she said.
The union leader recalled that in December the union lifted a strike on overtime and special events due to an agreement that the company did not fully comply with.
