Fourth day of Renfe railway strike: cancellations, delays, and traffic
Around half of trains running as workers continue to demand improved conditions
The Rodalies Renfe commuter rail network train drivers strike entered its fourth day on Tuesday, with disruptions expected for a full 24 hours.
Only around half of all trains are running, and by 9:00 am, 112 trains in Catalonia had been canceled altogether.
As has been the case since the industrial action began on Thursday, minimum services set at 85% of trains running have not been attained. Workers and the company continue to exchange accusations as Renfe claims that employees have willfully disobeyed orders to provide basic services while the Semaf union says they have not been adequately informed of who has to work.
Traffic in the Barcelona area, particularly on the AP-7, B-10, B-20, and B-23 highways, has increased significantly as more people have resorted to private vehicle use.
Four more days of strike
The union will also be on strike on October 7, 8, 11, and 12.
Workers want more people to be hired to cover vacancies that are more notable now that mobility levels have increased once again and are against the management of Rodalies possibly being transferred from the Spanish government to Catalonia.
Although this is a very long-standing demand by authorities in Barcelona, Madrid has not suggested any intention of transferring authority over this service. Yet, drivers are striking preemptively against potential service privatizations and loss of benefits.
Joan Rodríguez (@JoanMerinals), who works for Renfe, Tweeted last Friday about the main reasons behind the industrial action in Catalonia and other parts of Spain. According to him, strikers want Renfe to remain entirely public, jobs that were lost during the pandemic have not been recovered, and workers were not informed of a potential authority transfer to Catalonia which they fear would lead to more privatizations.
Com a treballador de Renfe, i com a afiliat a un dels sindicats convocants de la vaga convocada per a aquests dies, tinc ganes d'explicar-me una mica i així intentar fer entendre als viatgers els motius que ens han portat fins aquí.
— Joan Rodríguez (@JoanMerinals) October 1, 2021
Va fil 👇
More soon.