CATERING and logistics staff on high-speed and long-distance trains will continue their strike until Friday morning in protest over low pay.
Employees of Ferrovial Services, part of the Spanish transport infrastructure corporation Ferrovial which works for rail board RENFE, downed tools at 01.00 on Monday and will not be back to full schedule until 01.00 on Friday, May 5.
They sought to coincide their strike with the homeward-bound exodus following the May Day bank holiday in order to create maximum disruption – in the same vein as their previous industrial action over the run-up to Easter, between April 11 and 15.
Ground staff have also staged various strikes at Madrid's Atocha station since March 16.
Bar, café and general catering services, on-board newspaper distribution, chaperoning of unaccompanied minors, audio and video facilities, and customer service in general will be affected.
Union CGT considers that concessions made by Ferrovial Services to collective bargaining attempts remain sub-standard and do not respond to employees' requests.
Pay rises proposed are 'extremely low' and do not meet living costs, let alone allow for consumer spending beyond the basics, says the CGT.
Ferrovial Services says it has presented 'over 200 proposals in the last year and a half of negotiations', but that the CGT has 'rejected every single one'.
The union says employees are calling for a pay rise 'in proportion to their workload' and improved labour conditions.
