Matosinhos, Porto, July 22, 2024 (Lusa) - A strike on Monday by Porto public bus drivers has seen adherence of around 75%, with only a skeleton service being laid on, the leader of the union that called the strike told Lusa.
The total number of [vehicles] at Via Norte and Francos was 370 buses to leave, 210 at the former and 160 from the latter, Northern Urban Road Transport Union (STRUN) coodinator José Manuel Silva, estimated. At the time, 103 buses had left on both sides, implying a 75% turnout for the strike by drivers.
Silva was speaking outside the Via Norte pick-up station of the Sociedade de Transportes Coletivos do Porto (STCP) in São Mamede de Infesta (in Matosinhos, in Porto district), where he met a few dozen workers.
According to the STRUN coordinator, the numbers registered just before 9 a.m. mean that "what is working are the minimum services" mandated by the courts.
Lusa has questioned STCP about the strike figures and is awaiting a response.
Silva also said that although the strike had only been called by STRUN, and there are several other unions with members working for STCP as well as non-unionised workers, there was general adherence to the strike.
"It was the workers who decided in plenary," he said. "And in the plenary session there were workers from all the unions, and today there are workers from all the unions on strike."
STRUN has refused to sign a wage increase proposal put forward by management of 4.7%, asking for 8%.
"The company gave two percent in January due to minimum wages, because they exceeded the [pay for] drivers' jobs, and now it has applied another 2.7 percent, which gives 4.7 percent," he told Lusa, stressing that for the lowest wages there is an increase of €53.
Silva said he expected "practically nothing" from the current STCP administration, led by Cristina Pimentel, but he "pointed the finger" in particular, at administrator Rui Saraiva.
"The administrator who is here, it's not even the president, it's Mr Rui Saraiva, he's stubborn," the STRUN coordinator said. "That's the word for him. He's the one who knows, he's the one who talks, it's almost impossible to talk to him at meetings."
The union leader told Lusa that Saraiva "wants to show the shareholders, the councils, that he can dominate the workers with little money, which isn't true, because they're always losing drivers.
"If he continues with his stubbornness, the workers will be ready to give new answers," he said.
For his part, the coordinator of the STCP Works Council, João Paulo Silva, pointed out that “it's not just drivers” on strike, but also “office workers, administrative staff.”
During the strike period, some minimum services are guaranteed, covering daytime, night-time and the entire early morning network, STCP announced on Friday.
Daytime services (between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.) include lines 200, 201, 204, 205, 207, 208, 305, 500, 502, 600, 602, 700, 701, 702, 704, 801, 901/906, 903 and 907, and nighttime services include lines 200, 204, 205, 305, 502, 600, 602, 700, 701, 702, 801, 901/906, 903 and 907.
In the early hours network, all journeys will be guaranteed on lines 1M, 2M, 3M, 4M, 5M, 7M, 8M, 9M, 10M, 11M, 12M and 13M.
JE/ARO // ARO.
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