TODAY saw the first of four days of strikes on Madrid's metro as workers call for a much more extensive health-check programme after it was found that asbestos had been used for building the rail network.
Further strikes will take place this coming Monday (June 4), and on the next two Fridays, June 8 and 15.
Minimum services are guaranteed by law, meaning 69% during the morning rush hour and 55% over the afternoon and evening slots.
Drivers and other metro workers will down tools on these three days between 06.00 and 10.15, and again from 13.30 to 21.30, as they have done so far today.
Four ex-employees of the underground transport board, which is privately run, diagnosed with cancer caused by asbestosis, have successfully sought recognition as suffering from a work-related condition, which entitles them to compensation.
One of them has since died.
A commission has been set up to arrange for asbestos to be detected and removed, and to respond to workers' concerns about their health.
One of Spain's largest unions, the Labourers' Commissions (CCOO), and the train drivers' union in Madrid both say the task committee was only set up because of earlier industrial action, and call the medical checks scheme a 'farce'.
Initially, the metro company placed 470 workers under special vigilance, and only those in certain jobs they considered high risk.
But this left hundreds more fearing for their safety and feeling ignored by their firm.
In response to protests, the transport board has now agreed to carry out health checks on 1,000 employees, extending those eligible to include not only maintenance workers and porters, but also forklift truck drivers, construction employees and signal workers.
So far, 390 staff members have undergone medical checks.
The firm plans to allow anyone else currently working for the metro to be given one-off 'specific checks' upon request.
But the measures do not cover employees who have retired or left, and the health checks are not expected to continue indefinitely.
They fear they may have a fight on their hands if, in the future, they are diagnosed with cancer or other asbestos-related illnesses and attempt to claim 'sickness in service' compensation.
