The workers of Carris have resumed their protests today with a 24-hour strike, demanding a reduction of the workweek to 35 hours, a change set to be implemented in 2025.
Meanwhile, employees of the Lisbon Metro are holding a general assembly from 9:15 p.m. today until 2:30 a.m. on Friday, despite union meetings with the company’s management on the holiday of June 10.
According to the Federation of Transport and Communications Unions, Fectrans, the company revised its meal subsidy proposal during the meeting for presentation at the assembly.
“Following several attempts by the company to justify the unresolved issues affecting Metro workers, unions responded that the assembly could only be suspended with the immediate resolution of all pending issues,” a union note stated.
The unions representing Carris workers, which operate Lisbon’s public road transport including trams and street lifts, called for two-hour stoppages at the beginning and end of each shift from June 2 to 6 and a 24-hour strike today. Minimum services have been decreed by an arbitration court.
Essential services such as exclusive transport for the disabled and the company’s medical posts must function at 50% of their normal capacity, affecting routes 703, 708, 717, 726, 735, 736, 738, 751, 755, 758, 760, and 767.
On May 13, the National Union of Drivers and Other Workers (SNMOT) clarified that the salary update agreement would not close negotiations, and working groups would be formed with the company to phase the reduction of working hours to 35 hours a week.
According to the union, working hours had already been reduced to approximately 37 hours and 30 minutes weekly, a fact acknowledged by all involved after some time. The first meeting of the working group to implement the 35-hour workweek was held on April 30.
Carris has been managed by the Lisbon City Council since 2017, with workers represented by several unions, including SNMOT, the Union of Road and Urban Transport Workers (STRUP), the Sitra – Union of Transport Workers, the Sitese – Union of Service Sector Workers, and the ASPTC – Union Association of Carris and Subsidiaries Workers.
