Workers of the Lisbon Metro have commenced a strike against overtime and special event duties starting today. This action is expected to affect the Women’s Champions League final on Saturday and the Santos Populares celebrations, as reported by a union source.
When questioned about the Metro de Lisboa’s assurances that the strike “would not impact the regular transport service,” Fectrans union representative Sara Gligó countered by stating, “it is false that there will be no impact.”
“Of course, it has an impact,” Gligó remarked, pointing out that the Lisbon Metro “frequently relies on overtime, calling workers to work on their days off regularly.” She emphasized that Fectrans has been consistently raising this issue.
In a statement released on Thursday, Lisbon Metro indicated that the strike over overtime and special events, initiated at midnight today and set to last 30 days, with the possibility of renewal, “will not impact the usual transport service.”
However, the Metro announced plans to increase its services on Saturday for the Women’s Champions League final and is considering enhancing services for the Santos Populares celebrations as well.
Today, the company informed in a communication to Lusa that the service enhancement “depends on a combination of various operational factors and does not exclusively rely on overtime work.”
The Lisbon Metro also highlighted that workers’ participation in strikes “is not uniform, as not all workers partake in the strike.”
Sara Gligó refuted Metro de Lisboa’s clarifications, emphasizing that if the strike had no service impact, the company “would not need to ask workers to perform overtime this coming Saturday.”
“This is what will happen tomorrow [Saturday]. When workers receive advance notice of a strike on overtime, they decline. But the truth is the company needed this and even issued an internal communication asking workers to come to work. Therefore, this claim is completely false,” she asserted.
According to the union representative, the core issue involves “the fulfillment of the company agreement reached with us at the end of December to call off a similar strike related to payment due to workers for overtime and holiday pay.”
“In daily operations, having trains run every four minutes instead of two, or every six instead of three, might not have a significant impact. However, for events the company deems essential, like tomorrow or on the night of Santo António, it will indeed have an impact,” she reiterated.
Lisbon Metro has indicated “a strong commitment to making every effort to enhance its network’s services, adjusting them whenever possible to match predicted demand, particularly during peak times.”
The strike beginning today is poised to impact the Women’s Champions League final on Saturday and the Santos Populares celebrations, according to Sara Gligó.
The strike centers around demands for an increase in lunch subsidies and a reduction of the workweek to 35 hours, as stated by the union representative.
Lisbon Metro operates daily with four lines: Yellow (Rato-Odivelas), Green (Telheiras-Cais do Sodré), Blue (Reboleira-Santa Apolónia), and Red (Aeroporto-São Sebastião).
The metro typically runs from 6:30 AM to 1:00 AM.
