According to the Portuguese railway company CP, out of six long-distance trains scheduled for the period, only one was canceled. Among the 35 regional trains, three were canceled, while urban train services in Porto saw five out of 27 scheduled trains canceled. Services in Lisbon (58) and Coimbra (2) proceeded as planned.
The Locomotive Engineers Union (SMAQ) is observing the second day of a strike against overtime, which will continue until Wednesday. Concurrently, the Itinerant Commercial Review Railway Union (SFRCI) has begun a strike involving ticket inspectors and booking office workers.
This partial strike is taking place between 5:00 AM and 8:30 AM on Monday and Tuesday. On Sunday and Wednesday, only long-distance trains are minimally affected, according to the union.
For this strike, 25% minimum service levels have been mandated.
CP reported that no minimum services were scheduled for the initial strike period, which lasted until 8:00 AM.
SFRCI representative Luis Bravo stated to the press that train cancellations would be sporadic, mainly affecting long-distance services where workers must rest outside their headquarters.
António Domingues, president of SMAQ, indicated that the impact of the engineers’ strike is limited due to its focus on overtime. He noted that the expected gradual decrease in train cancellations reflects the planned strike strategy.
The unions are protesting against wage increases they argue don’t restore purchasing power, calling for collective bargaining for fair wage increases and the implementation of the restructuring agreement of salary scales as negotiated and agreed upon.
