Strikes at Renfe and Adif threaten train travel at the start of the high tourist season in Malaga

The four days of industrial action called by the CGT union could affect the national rail operator's local Cercanías services, as well as the high-speed AVE and Media Distancia services

Matías Stuber

Malaga

Monday, 26 June 2023, 11:45

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Four days of strikes are set to disrupt rail services throughout Malaga province in the next two weeks

The CGT union has called for the four days of stoppages to demand state rail operator Renfe and infrastructure company Adif improve working conditions. The strikes will affect the Cercanías, AVE and Media Distancia trains at the start of the high tourist season on 28 and 30 June, and 5 and 7 July.

The union has launched two strike calls - one is aimed at Adif workers in charge of monitoring and directing track signalling. These disruptions have been set for the four dates listed.

The other strike is against Renfe, on 5 July, and is aimed at railway workshop employees. In Malaga, the staff assigned to Los Prados consists, according to CGT, of about 100 employees - the union considers this number of staff as insufficient to cope with the current workload.

Secretary general of CGT in Malaga, Miguel Montenegro, told SUR: "the subcontracted staff already equals the workers who belong to Renfe".

Los Prados is a key Renfe infrastructure for railway operations, responsible for the maintenance of short and medium distance trains, and AVE trains.

What are the employees asking for?

The strikes at Adif and Renfe are both aimed at improving the working conditions of the employees. Their demands are focused on two points, one of which is hiring more staff. CGT claims that the Ministry of Public Works has refused to replace workers who have retired in recent years.

The other demand is aimed at installing a 35-hour working week. "It was agreed to compensate for the loss of purchasing power suffered by Renfe's public workers, but in practice it is not being fulfilled," Montenegro said.

The hours during which Adif and Renfe workers in Malaga are called to strike occupy two slots on each of the days; from 11am to 3pm and from 7pm to 11pm. Representatives of the workers and Renfe are scheduled to meet on 27 June in the Sercla ahead of the looming strikes to try to reach an agreement.

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