Metro strike during Madrid World Pride slammed by regional government

On a day when over two million visitors are expected in Spain's capital, from all over the globe, underground trains will be running on minimum services only from 13.00 on Wednesday, June 28.

Regional government sources say they have only been informed of three days of strikes, lasting until Friday, June 30, but the drivers' union says it also plans to down tools over the weekend of July 1 and 2.

Around 1,900 metro drivers may join the strike, which relates to their professional category as defined by the Social Security (national insurance) office.

They are currently listed as unqualified or unskilled workers, but they want to be registered as 'Electric Traction Operators' to reflect their intense, compulsory training and responsibility levels.

Drivers say they are not seeking extra pay relating to this classification, but that if they are off sick or pensioned off early on health grounds due to conditions caused directly by their jobs, these medical problems are not recognised as labour-related if they are 'unskilled', and they will not be paid by the State accordingly.

Causes of conditions that may lead to work-related illness for metro drivers include ongoing noise, electro-magnetic pollution, psychosomatic and psychosocial issues – the latter being especially the case where a driver is involved in a suicide or fatal accident on the line, or in the event of a rare, but possible, crash leading to deaths or injuries of passengers.

The regional government interprets this request as the drivers setting up an early retirement for themselves, since Electric Traction Operators can be pensioned off at as young as age 52 due to labour risks and accumulation of health conditions.

Drivers are also calling for two of their colleagues, suspended without pay for dumping their trains full of passengers and going home, to be reinstated and compensated for the time they spent without earning.

Both drivers claimed they had reached the end of their shifts and were not entitled to overtime, therefore they should not still be working as they were not insured to do so, and left metro trains blocking the line.

The regional government says there is no chance it will overturn its disciplinary action against them.

It recalls that the majority of unions, with the exception of the one covering drivers, approved and signed a new working conditions agreement last year which is valid until 2019.

This agreement included creating at least 950 new jobs, of which 360 were for drivers.

World Pride: A huge tourism boost for Madrid set to treble the population

World Pride, a colourful festival to celebrate the achievements in terms of equal rights for gay, lesbian and bisexual people, to increase visibility of their community, and call for better protection for same-sex couples and singles in parts of the globe where persecution and restrictions still exist, is due to take over Madrid for nine days.

It starts on June 23 and culminates on July 2, with the grand parade being on July 1 through the city centre.

Although same-sex love is the central theme, Pride festivals – which take place in almost every country, sometimes at huge risk for participants – are open to anyone who wants to join in and visit the music tents, catering marquées or join the rainbow-coloured parade, whether or not they are heterosexual.

In the western world, LGB Pride is now simply a giant street carnival to celebrate romantic love in all its formats, and even makes the mainstream local press in small, provincial towns.

Equal rights for everyone, irrespective of their partner preferences, are now almost a certainty in Europe, where Spain flies the flag as the continent's most accepting country and a pioneer in terms of marriage and adoption opportunities for all, meaning the 'protest' element of Pride is no longer its main aim.

But the festival serves to show the rest of the community that non-heterosexuals are 'just like normal people' in terms of looks, dress, lifestyle and behaviour, and not a strange or feared 'sub-species' as they were considered to be decades ago.

Madrid is thrilled to celebrate World Pride for these reasons and, above all, because of the massive potential income from international tourism – the city's population is expected to treble over Pride week.

The photograph shows the regional government, with its president Cristina Cifuentes, promoting World Pride 2017.