National transport strike for Christmas

In this case it is a nationwide strike called by the employers.

Specifically, on November 10, the National Committee for Road Transport, made up of the different employers' associations for the transport of people and goods by road, announced a national strike.

According to the CNTC statement, the national strike is called from 12:00 a.m. on December 20 until 11:59 p.m. on December 22. The CNTC also warns that "only a radical and urgent change on the part of the Government and clients could avoid this conflict."

The demands of the employers that motivate this national strike a few days before Christmas are varied and some come from afar, without finding a solution.

In the statement, the Committee recalls the effort and importance that the transport sector had during the state of emergency, recalling that "it is useless for large stores to open their doors if the goods do not arrive until them and, for this, in the last stretch, a vehicle from our sector must always do it”.

At a general level, they complain about the inaction of the Government around the agreements reached in February 2020, which have not yet been transferred to legislative modifications or concrete actions.

The most outstanding points of these agreements are the prohibition of loading and unloading by drivers, the non-modification of the regulations on weights and dimensions and the non-introduction of a system of payment for the use of roads, the so-called European vignette.

In addition, the CNTC speaks of abandonment by the Ministry of Transport and denounces the extreme situation of many transport companies, drowned by the increase in fuel costs, 35% higher than at the beginning of the year , and lack of margin to increase their rates, due to pressure from their clients. This, they say, affects the wages they can pay their workers, who they consider to be working in precarious conditions and which, in turn, translates into an alarming lack of drivers.

Both the CCOO and the UGT, the main class unions in the country, have distanced themselves from the bosses' strike proposed by the CNTC, with harsh criticism of the National Committee for Road Transport.

UGT clarified through a statement "that it is not a strike called by the workers, but a lockout called by the companies." The union sees bad intention when mixing claims that directly affect workers, such as the problem of loading or unloading by drivers or the need for safe rest areas, with employer problems, such as the increase in fuel prices or the more than probable application of the Eurovignette. They wonder "why was this strike not called when fuel prices were much lower?" to then respond that "it was not convened because those affected by this are the drivers and not the employers."

CCOO for its part is also very critical of the employers before this call. Through a statement they also acknowledge that there are serious problems in the sector, but they see the employers as part of the problem: "it is the companies themselves that have caused some of these problems and those that have led the profession to this situation of precariousness and hardship.

The Platform in Defense of the Transport Sector has also distanced itself from the call with a statement that harshly attacks the CNTC. They assure that "the CNTC is the biggest cancer of small carriers and drivers, since it is an organization made and designed by the administration to have a managed, divided and silenced sector" and that "the Committee is mostly made up of large fleet operators , shippers and large volume transport operators, so they do not represent the sector”

The same day that the CNTC announced the call for the national strike, the Government agreed with Brussels to implement the toll system on motorways before 2024, without reaching a prior agreement on this with the transport sector.

The general secretary of Transport and Mobility, María José Rallo, has assured that there is "margin" so that, in a "serene and calm manner", "solutions to alleviate" the situation of carriers are sought.

Regarding the incorporation of tolls on highways, the representative of the department of the Minister of Transport Raquel Sánchez has reiterated that the Government "is planning to open a debate, a process of dialogue with the sector, at a political and Social. "Nothing is going to be done behind the back of the sector, quite the opposite."