Renfe warns that the train drivers are not even complying with the minimum services

BarcelonaThe first of the three strike days planned for Rodalies is already quite a statement of intent. Renfe warned early this Wednesday that the train drivers from Semaf, the majority union that called for the stoppages, are failing to meet minimum service requirements. In a message shared on its social media, the operator recommends looking for "alternative means of transport" and admits that "the trains are not providing the scheduled service".

The minimum services that had been established during peak hours—between 6:00 and 9:30 in the morning and between 17:00 and 20:30—were supposed to be 66% of the trains, while for the rest of the day they are 33%. At 6:00 in the morning, however, only 14 trains had departed, even though 25 were planned. Shortly after, at 6:30, more than half (60%) of the scheduled minimum services had already been cancelled.

The Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque, has already come out to say that the Government will demand that Renfe "open proceedings and files" for the failure to meet minimum services in the train drivers' strike this Tuesday. In an interview with Catalunya Ràdio, Paneque assured that they will be "strict" with the operator to find out why the minimum services have not been respected and why there are drivers who have not shown up for work in the last few days. Meanwhile, the Department of Territory and Renfe have activated around sixty additional buses to "guarantee the right to mobility" for the public, a measure that she admitted could not be planned in advance so as not to violate the right to strike.

This Tuesday's strike is the first of the three planned for this week (on the 10th and 12th the train drivers' strike, and on the 11th they will support the general strike planned throughout the State), and it comes after several days of delays and cancellations due to the labor standoff between the train drivers and Renfe.

The key to the delays

Rodalies de Catalunya explained yesterday that, after agreements between the company and the unions broke down this weekend, they have returned to "regulatory shifts," which means that all train drivers must clock in at Sants regardless of where in Catalonia the line they are operating begins. This forces the drivers to start their workday from Barcelona, even if they have to go and take a train that begins its route from Vic. A decision that greatly complicates logistics and that the drivers now understand they must comply with, due to the lack of agreements.

This Tuesday's is a 24-hour strike. Thursday's, on the other hand, is partial. The mobilizations come less than two weeks after the last stoppage called by the union, on October 29th, the day after the accident in Urda, Toledo, also to demand a structural change in railway safety. A new day of joint strike at Renfe and Adif is also scheduled for November 17th, confirmed by the works council after the meeting of the Labor Conflicts Commission ended without an agreement. Semaf has also announced a call for that day that extends to the drivers of eight operators.

Minister Paneque has said that despite everything, they keep a "hand extended" to the unions to try to resolve the open labor conflicts, which revolve primarily around safety. In any case, the minister also recalled that the negotiation is being led from Madrid, through the Ministry of Transport.