Lisbon, June 4, 2025 (Lusa) - The Socialists (PS) in Lisbon city council on Wednesday questioned the PSD/CDS-PP leadership about the public transport operator, Carris, strike on June 12, one of the busiest days in the city, seeking to find out what measures would be taken to avoid the impact of this stoppage.
The issue of the strike by Carris, Lisbon’s municipal public transport company, was discussed during a private meeting of the city council, with PS councillors recalling the demand that the PSD/CDS-PP council, led by Carlos Moedas (PSD), made to the PS Government in 2021 to reach an agreement with Metro workers in order to prevent a strike during the Web Summit conference, with Moedas even declaring that “it was very sad that the Government was unable to prevent such a strike”.
The Lusa news agency questioned the office of the mayor, Carlos Moedas (PSD), about what the city council is doing to avoid the impact of the Carris strike on June 12, which referred the question to the municipal public transport company.
June 12 is one of the busiest days in the city due to the Lisbon festivities.
In addition to questioning the strike, the PS councillors criticised the PSD/CDS-PP administration (which governs Lisbon without an absolute majority) regarding Carris, stating that the Social Democrat Carlos Moedas will leave the city “a company with the highest rate of non-compliance in recent years (+5%), which has been losing workers (especially drivers) which has spent an additional €1.5 million on 53,000 hours of overtime as a result".
The Socialists also pointed to a continuous decline in commercial speed (which reached a new low of 13.31 km/h), with fewer vehicles in circulation, a worrying increase in accidents and general dissatisfaction among passengers, as evidenced by the record number of complaints (more than 13,000).
For the PS, “the continuous deterioration” of the company’s main indices shows that there is less public transport and worse public transport in the city, and this also proves that the “New Times” (PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança coalition) “do not have, and never have had, a mobility strategy for Lisbon”.
Carris workers have been on partial strike since Monday and will continue until Friday, with the strike taking place during the first and last hours of each worker’s daily shift in various sectors (traffic, workshops and management) in protest at the deadlock in negotiations with the transport company.
Unions representing workers at the Lisbon company (which operates the city’s public road service as well as trams and street lifts) have called for a two-hour stoppage at the beginning and end of each shift between June 2–6 and a 24-hour stoppage on June 12, with minimum services being decreed by an arbitration court.
In addition to services such as exclusive transport for disabled people and the company’s medical stations being mandatory, routes 703, 708, 717, 726, 735, 736, 738, 751, 755, 758, 760 and 767 must operate “at 50% of their normal service”.
Speaking to Lusa, Carris president Pedro de Brito Bogas emphasised that he has had “good dialogue with the trade unions”, but acknowledged that “the unions always want more”.
Noting that Carris is “in a cycle of strong wage increases,” Pedro Bogas said that the workers’ demand for a reduction in working hours from 40 to 35 hours is a legitimate ambition, but he added that it is “extremely difficult and jeopardises the company’s sustainability.”
SSM/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
