Friday's CP Rail Strike Is Called Off After the Conductors' Union Reports Progress in Talks With the Infrastructure Ministry
The SFRCI has withdrawn its 24-hour strike at CP on 30 October after a meeting with the ministry, so trains should run normally. The union warns it can strike again if promises are not kept. What passengers who changed their plans should do.
The 24-hour strike by train conductors and ticket-office staff at Comboios de Portugal (CP, the state railway), due on Friday 30 October, has been called off. The Sindicato Ferroviário da Revisão Comercial Itinerante (SFRCI, the rail union for on-board conductors and ticket inspectors) withdrew its strike notice after a meeting with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing on Tuesday, it said in a communiqué sent to Observador. A union source also confirmed the decision to Notícias ao Minuto on Wednesday morning.
The strike, which we reported on 22 October, would have covered every CP service, from the Alfa Pendular to the Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra suburban lines, and CP had warned of knock-on disruption on Thursday 29 and Saturday 31 October.
Why the union stepped back
According to the SFRCI, ministry officials, working with CP's board, said at Tuesday's meeting that they were willing to take forward the workers' demands. The points discussed, the union says, were pay and career progression, payment for work done on rest days that are not compensated, publication of the pay and other agreements in the Boletim do Trabalho e Emprego (the official labour bulletin), and a revision of the company agreement and the career rules. The union also wants stronger rail safety and better protection for staff against assaults.
The SFRCI calls the suspension "a sign of openness to dialogue", but says it is not "a blank cheque" for the ministry or CP's board. If the commitments are not met, or the talks make no real progress, it "reserves the right to resume" industrial action, including new strikes.
The day before, the ministry had told Lusa that negotiations were a matter for CP's management, and that the company was still talking to the union "bearing in mind the operational needs and financial sustainability of the company", Notícias ao Minuto reported.
What it means for passengers
With the strike withdrawn, CP trains should run to their normal timetable on Friday. At 11:00 on Wednesday, however, CP's passenger notice about the strike was still online and still offered a full refund, or a free exchange, to holders of Alfa Pendular, Intercidades, international, InterRegional and Regional tickets for that day. If you changed or cancelled a journey because of the strike, check that notice, or call CP's helpline on 210 900 032, before you travel.
Friday morning in Lisbon should also be free of the Metro stoppage once planned for the same day: the unions suspended both of the Metro's partial strikes for 28 and 30 October on Monday, as we reported, in protest at a minimum service ruling.
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