Renfe faces this Friday a new day of strike called by the minority union CGT, which maintains these mobilizations despite the fact that the company recently agreed a new collective agreement with CC.OO., UGT and the Semaf drivers' union.
This new strike comes after the first day of strike that took place last Monday, in which Renfe limited the follow-up to less than 3% -around 200 employees-, so it is expected that this Friday's operation will take place without major incidents, beyond the impact of the minimum services. CGT, on the other hand, raised the monitoring to 87% of the personnel not included in the minimum services.
CGT demands the disappearance of income categories and double salary scales, a linear salary increase linked to the real CPI, regulation of the 35-hour day accumulated in full days, higher hiring rates in the different groups, recovery of lost circulations in the pandemic and adapt them to current demand or stop the closure of ticket offices operated by Renfe.
The minimum services in Cercanías will be 75% at rush hour and 50% at the rest of the day; 72% on AVE and Long Distance; and 65% in Middle Distance. Additionally, the Generalitat de Catalunya has set a minimum of 66% of Rodalies trains at rush hour –from 6:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.– and 33% at off-peak hours.
This second day of the strike has already caused the first effects on users this morning, especially among people who went to work or to the study center first thing in the morning, when the service is most congested.
On the other hand, the minimum services stipulated for Freight trains determine that only 25% of these trains circulate, so that more than 200 Freight services will not operate, with the consequent negative impact on the logistics chains of dozens of large and medium-sized Spanish industrial companies.
The call for these strikes took place just 24 hours after the CC.OO., UGT and Semaf unions decided to call off their strikes in response to the fact that the company's management agreed to negotiate the agreement by setting a schedule of meetings that culminated in the signing of said agreement a few days ago. This includes a fixed salary increase of 3.5% for 2022, with retroactive effect to January 1, as well as a 2.5% increase in 2023 and 2% for 2024, variable depending on the increases in GDP and the CPI.
From CGT they argued that "the cancellation agreements that the majority unions have signed are more than insufficient to really improve the working conditions of the railway workers", something that they also denounce in the new agreement.
Specifically, CGT considers "essential" a salary increase that responds to the increase in the CPI, so as not to lose purchasing power, and that the 35-hour day is specified.
In addition, it demands the elimination of salary scales and not their reduction because they assume that in the same position there are employees who receive up to 33% less salary than their colleagues. "This is inadmissible," he says. “From CGT we are more ambitious, we want real and palpable improvements, we are not demobilized by empty promises nor do we forget that there are other aspects to negotiate in this agreement”, he concludes.
For its part, Renfe wanted to offer its apologies to the citizens for this CGT strike. "The management of the company regrets that, despite the various calls made and the signing of the collective agreement, it has not been possible to impose logic and CGT continues with its call, despite the very little real follow-up," the company has defended. public.
