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ARCHIVED - Renfe train conductors plan strike for beginning of October
Travel plans disrupted from September 30-October 12 as unions protest against staff shortages
The Railway Machine Operators’ Union (Semaf), who represent around 85 per cent of the total number of train conductors, has organised an eight-day strike across all Renfe trains in Spain.
The dates selected are September 30, October 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11 and 12, and Semaf has asked other workers’ unions to join them in the strike. The strike will mean disruption to railway travel for passengers across the whole country on these days.
Continued conflict dating back to 2007 between the union and the Renfe train company is the cause of the strike, but specifically the union feel that the train company aren’t honouring employment agreements made in 2016 and, more recently, in February 2021. Semaf have stated that Renfe have failed to restore all non-covered employment and re-establish suspended train lines. The employment scheme agreed in 2016 with the company included the incorporation of 500 machine operators, of which only 400 are currently operational.
These 500 new hires were meant to cover other machine operators leaving the company and, according to Semaf, there is an employee deficit of around 150 conductors, which could worsen if Renfe do not employ more staff.
While Renfe insist that there isn’t a lack of staff, the union has also accused the company of spreading false data to the media and misleading the public about the real number of new employments since 2016; Semaf state that some of the new members of staff have been duplicated and that Renfe have failed to take into account employees who have left the company or who are on leave in the figures released to the public.
They also state that Renfe is directly responsible for the suppression of some train lines as they refuse to employ more conductors. Renfe denies this, blaming the transport reduction on Covid-19 cases amongst employees.
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