Malaga transport drivers union joins the national strike

Three more organisations join the transport workers strike, including one union from Malaga

Fenadismer, Fetransa, and Feintra, three organisations integrated into the National Committee of Road Transport (CNTC), have today, Tuesday, March 22, all added their support to the transport workers strike. They do not consider the offer of €500 million in bonuses for fuel that the Executive has proposed to be sufficient.

Fenadismer’s federated representative in Malaga is the Andalucian Association of Carriers (Asantra), which includes some 300 companies and a fleet of some 2,500 vehicles.

Serafin Escalante, the president of Asantra, affirmed to laopiniondemalaga.es that its associates have taken the step of stopping their activity because they are “tired” of waiting for the Government to finalise its measures to support the sector. He explained that the situation of the self-employed in transport and SMEs is ” unsustainable”.

“In reality, 90 per cent of our associates had already been unemployed for days, because we have reached a point where working means losing money due to the rise in the price of diesel. Paradoxically, a carrier saves more with the truck idle”, he pointed out.

Around 50 per cent of the firms that make up Asantra are self-employed, and the other half is made up of small businesses, mostly with up to five vehicles, although there may be a specific one with more than 15.

“They are all kinds of companies. There are those that carry out transportation of fruit and vegetables to Europe with refrigerated trucks. Others distribute to large stores or shops, to construction sites, or in the logistics of companies, in addition to others that work in the parcel delivery and last-mile segment”, explained Mr Escalante.

Escalante, who reiterates that they will remain unemployed while waiting for the Government to “specify the aid”, until it is considered adequate, was also blunt in condemning the episodes of violence that may have occurred by some pickets. “Those do not represent us”, he assured.

The president also added he has been receiving calls from many carriers, asking him for legal advice, with the intention of presenting insolvency proceedings. “There is a certain and real risk of bankruptcy in the sector if the fuel problem is not fixed”, he pointed out.

In comparison, Fetrama, the Malaga Transport Federation, which consists of 450 companies with a joint fleet of more than 5,000 vehicles, refuses to join the strike. It says that it understands that despite the fact that the situation in its sector is “unsustainable”, strikes are not a solution, and only contribute to worsening the economy, as reported by laopiniondemalaga.es.

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