The strike by Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) workers led today to the suppression of 278 trains out of 436 scheduled (63.8%) by CP, between 00:00 and 10:00, according to data from the carrier.
Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) workers are holding the first of two strikes today, with minimum services having been decreed.
On Lisbon’s urban routes, 145 of the 213 planned were cancelled, and on the long-haul routes, 25 were scheduled and 18 were cancelled.
There were also plans for 85 urban trains in Porto, but only 36 connections were made, and in Coimbra, four of the 11 scheduled were made.
In a note sent to Lusa on the impact of this strike on CP, the company states that 158 of the 436 scheduled trains took place.
Speaking to Lusa this morning, Adriano Filipe, president of Aprofer – Trade Union Association of Railway Command and Control Professionals, said that at 08:00 the minimum services were being carried out.
The strike, which covers IP’s operation, command, control, information, traffic management and railway maintenance workers, is related to working conditions and salaries, Adriano Filipe told Lusa.
“The reasons for this strike are the same” as the strike that had been called for September 2022, he recalled, pointing out that IP had promised to negotiate an agreement, but this has not happened since.
“The agreement was to close negotiations and commit to social peace until December 31, 2023, but in view of IP’s failure to comply, we decided to strike from the beginning of January and it will be a strike that, until there is an agreement or a change of position, will continue,” he said.
These workers, who mainly work in operational command centers (OCCs), which control the entire railway operation at national level, are demanding that their profession be regularized.
“For 17 years, new jobs have needed to be regularized and so we work along the lines of the old CP,” he said, stressing that the work is “in a highly technological station, which concentrates all the traffic and maintenance for the whole country.”
The strike could also affect train traffic on Wednesday and Friday, CP said in a statement published on its website.
On the days of the strike, minimum services are guaranteed, with the Alfa Pendular and Intercidades, Regional, InterRegional and International trains, Comboios Urbanos do Porto, Comboios Urbanos de Coimbra and Comboios Urbanos de Lisboa scheduled to run.
