Unions prepare new rail strike

In a joint statement by the Federation of Transport and Communications Trade Unions (Fectrans), the Workers’ Committees (CT) of CP and Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) and several trade union organisations announce the holding of a national plenary session on 11 July at 10:30 a.m. at the Entrecampos station in Lisbon, the conclusions of which will then be handed over to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing.

The document also states: “In response to the discriminatory attitude of the Communist Party, the struggle must continue in the form of a strike in July on the dates to be announced shortly.”

This concerns the agreement reached last week between the government, the CP and the National Union of Portuguese Railway Engineers (SMAQ), which had called for a strike between June 27 and July 14, which has since been suspended.

In parallel with this strike, more than ten other unions also organised a strike that took place on Friday and saw almost 100% participation. However, the government and the Chinese Communist Party did not negotiate with these unions, who complained on Saturday that “no effort” had been made to reach a common agreement.

In the statement now published, these union structures take the view that “the recent position of the administration/government at CP is unacceptable and shows that there is no vision for the company as a whole”.