HIGH-SPEED rail services between Spain's largest two cities and France have been snapped up by half a million passengers in less than nine months, reveals the transport board.
Madrid metro and airport security strikes from this week
18/12/2017
TRANSPORT headaches are likely in Madrid over Christmas with metro staff and airport security workers having announced strikes.
Train drivers on the underground rail network will down tools between 17.00 and 21.00 today (Monday, December 18), through to Friday, December 22 inclusive after failing to reach a deal with the company's health and safety committee about carrying out a report on working conditions, security and hygiene as requested by the Madrid Metro Train Drivers' Community Union (SCMM).
They have also criticised the firm for imposing 'minimum services' during the strike of 62%, or 175 trains continuing to run, calling this 'abusive' and an infringement upon their right, enshrined in law, to effect industrial action.
'Minimum services' means that the outer suburban metro lines will be the hardest-hit, with only two trains running and gaps of up to 16 minutes between them, compared with the city-centre lines which will have between 14 and 24 trains circulating around five to nine minutes apart.
The company, Metro de Madrid, says it has already agreed to draw up the security and hygiene report and 'does not understand' why drivers are still planning to strike, when this agreement was supposed to be the condition they demanded in order to continue providing services.
But SCMM says it wants independent auditors to inspect the network, and claims Metro de Madrid is attempting to bar access to them.
Overlapping with the end of the metro strike, security workers at Madrid's Adolfo Suárez-Barajas airport have announced industrial action between this Thursday, December 21 and Monday, January 8.
They cite 'precarious' and 'undignified' working conditions and lack of job security.
“We look after passengers' safety, but nobody looks after our rights – here we are with a terrorism alert level 4 [out of a maximum of 5] and yet we are gradually taking on more and more responsibility in poorer-quality conditions, with numerous audits, pressure from superiors and lower wages which leave us running out of money long before payday,” says the staff union for the Prosegur security franchise.
“We are not permitted even the minimum considerations for family commitments or work-life balance, our scheduled breaks get cancelled if there is a high volume of passengers – to the point where we cannot even go to the toilet or stop to eat a sandwich.
“All we want is to get back the quality of working life and pay we used to have and have been losing gradually over the last few years; we're not asking for anything extra.”
Strikes will take place every day between 05.30 and 06.30, from 10.30 to 11.30, from 14.00 to 15.00 and from 19.00 to 20.00.
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TRANSPORT headaches are likely in Madrid over Christmas with metro staff and airport security workers having announced strikes.
Train drivers on the underground rail network will down tools between 17.00 and 21.00 today (Monday, December 18), through to Friday, December 22 inclusive after failing to reach a deal with the company's health and safety committee about carrying out a report on working conditions, security and hygiene as requested by the Madrid Metro Train Drivers' Community Union (SCMM).
They have also criticised the firm for imposing 'minimum services' during the strike of 62%, or 175 trains continuing to run, calling this 'abusive' and an infringement upon their right, enshrined in law, to effect industrial action.
'Minimum services' means that the outer suburban metro lines will be the hardest-hit, with only two trains running and gaps of up to 16 minutes between them, compared with the city-centre lines which will have between 14 and 24 trains circulating around five to nine minutes apart.
The company, Metro de Madrid, says it has already agreed to draw up the security and hygiene report and 'does not understand' why drivers are still planning to strike, when this agreement was supposed to be the condition they demanded in order to continue providing services.
But SCMM says it wants independent auditors to inspect the network, and claims Metro de Madrid is attempting to bar access to them.
Overlapping with the end of the metro strike, security workers at Madrid's Adolfo Suárez-Barajas airport have announced industrial action between this Thursday, December 21 and Monday, January 8.
They cite 'precarious' and 'undignified' working conditions and lack of job security.
“We look after passengers' safety, but nobody looks after our rights – here we are with a terrorism alert level 4 [out of a maximum of 5] and yet we are gradually taking on more and more responsibility in poorer-quality conditions, with numerous audits, pressure from superiors and lower wages which leave us running out of money long before payday,” says the staff union for the Prosegur security franchise.
“We are not permitted even the minimum considerations for family commitments or work-life balance, our scheduled breaks get cancelled if there is a high volume of passengers – to the point where we cannot even go to the toilet or stop to eat a sandwich.
“All we want is to get back the quality of working life and pay we used to have and have been losing gradually over the last few years; we're not asking for anything extra.”
Strikes will take place every day between 05.30 and 06.30, from 10.30 to 11.30, from 14.00 to 15.00 and from 19.00 to 20.00.
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You may also be interested in ...
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