Transport workers to continue strike after latest talks fail

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Transport strike continues after talks between the Platform for the Defence of Competition and Raquel Sanchez fail

The strike by transport workers has not been called off. A two-hour meeting took place this afternoon between the body that called the strike, and Raquel Sanchez, the Minister of Transport. As no agreement could be reached during this meeting, the indefinite strike is due to continue.

Manuel Hernandez, the president of the Platform for the Defence of Competition, explained to the press directly after the meeting that the Executive has not given them a guarantee that they can return to work from Monday without losing money. This is not admissible for the Platform assured Mr Hernandez.

An agreement had been reached earlier by the Government with the National Committee for Road Transport (CNTC), the sector’s representative body, but the Platform for the Defence of Competition was not involved in the talks that led to that decision.

Hernandez pointed out that the ministry has promised to submit a draft of the law within two or three months where the impossibility of contracting transport at a loss is collected. This would be an advance of one of the points agreed between the Government and the CNTC to help the sector.

According to what was agreed, the Ministry of Transport will present a draft bill to the CNTC before July 31 to apply the principles of the law of the food chain to the road freight transport sector. This would be designed to ensure the fair use of subcontracting, and the profitability of work in the sector. It would then later be presented to the Council of Ministers.

However, Hernandez said that is not enough. He conveyed to the minister the need to articulate some type of transitory measure through a decree-law or similar figure, that allows transporters to guarantee that they do not lose money for working until the law is definitively approved.

“The situation in the sector is chaotic”, commented Hernandez, but he assured that Raquel Sanchez told him that “she does not see it possible to approve a transitory decree-law”. For this reason, “and much to our regret, we continue with the strike”, said the president of Platform.

In statements to La Sexta, after Mr Hernadez had spoken with the press, Ms Sanchez pointed out that all the demands that the Platform has raised are “included in the agreement” that had been closed with the CNTC earlier.

The problem, she assured, is that the drafting of any law or regulation “requires work and takes time” and that prevents the adoption of any transitory measure such as the one proposed by the callers of the strike.

Sanchez assured that they have “identified the problem” that the sector has regarding the need to have guaranteed profitability. But she added that they need time to address it, and that time is the months that the agreement includes, as reported by larazon.es.

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Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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