Rail transport across the country is currently halted, indicating almost total worker participation since midnight, according to José Manuel Oliveira of FECTRANS. He emphasized that despite efforts between the administration and unions, “CP is functioning with fewer workers than necessary.”
The union leader explained that “an agreement was reached between the administration and all unions,” but during its implementation, “some issues arose regarding costs being supported by CP’s budget.”
“We made some efforts to accept modifications allowing these measures to be financed by CP’s budget without resorting to the State Budget, and an agreement was reached on April 24,” he explained. However, shortly after, CP’s president informed that the agreement could not be realized “because the Government did not endorse it,” as he lamented.
He added, “The central issue is that the Government fully supported CP in making these proposals. Either they acted in bad faith, or the responsible minister wasn’t aware that such endorsements weren’t permissible during a transitional administration.”
He further remarked that the rationale that decisions cannot be made under a caretaker government fell apart when the minister, after an initial meeting with the Secretary of State, later acknowledged that by reviewing the law, they found a provision permitting the authorization of part of the agreement’s application. The unionist continues that the goal is to guarantee workers that even when the current government leaves, they will retain rights to the remaining parts of the agreement, which has implementations throughout this year.
The strike, ongoing until May 14, is set to have a significant impact today and Thursday due to the participation of a larger number of unions (14) on these days.
The strike from today until Thursday was initiated by multiple unions, including the Associação Sindical das Chefias Intermédias de Exploração Ferroviária (ASCEF), Associação Sindical Independente dos Ferroviários da Carreira Comercial (ASSIFECO), Federação dos Sindicatos dos Transportes e Comunicações (FECTRANS), Sindicato Nacional dos Transportes Comunicações e Obras Públicas (FENTCOP), Sindicato Nacional dos Ferroviários do Movimento e Afins (SINAFE), Sindicato Nacional Democrático da Ferrovia (SINDEFER), Sindicato Independente dos Trabalhadores Ferroviários das Infraestruturas e Afins (SINFA), Sindicato Independente Nacional dos Ferroviários (SINFB), Sindicato Nacional dos Trabalhadores dos Transportes e Indústria (SINTTI), Sindicato Independente dos Operacionais Ferroviários e Afins (SIOFA), Sindical Nacional de Quadros Técnicos (SNAQ), Sindicato Nacional dos Trabalhadores do Setor Ferroviário (SNTSF), Sindicato dos Transportes Ferroviários (STF), and Sindicato dos Trabalhadores do Metro e Ferroviários (STMEFE).
Joining today and Thursday is a separate strike by the Sindicato dos Maquinistas (SMAQ), with additional action by Sindicato Ferroviário da Revisão Comercial Itinerante (SFRCI) from May 7 to 14.
According to a decision by the Arbitration Tribunal, no minimum services are required during the strikes.
However, the necessary services for the safety and maintenance of equipment and facilities, emergency services, rescue trains, and all trains already in motion must continue to their destinations.
Contacted for information, a CP source confirmed no trains are operating, with updates expected later in the morning.
[Updated at 08:47]
