Lorry drivers threaten to strike again and block roads in Spain at Christmas
The group that disrupted the logistics chain in 2022 warns of new mobilisations to protest against not being included in the national road transport committee, the government's official board
The indefinite strike called by Plataforma en Defensa del Transporte, an organisation made up of small companies and self-employed workers in the lorry transport sector, managed to collapse the logistics chain in Spain in 2022. Now, the same organisation is threatening to call another strike in the run-up to Christmas. This time, it denounces not having been included in the national road transport committee (CNTC), the government's interlocutors for the sector's issues.
In a statement issued on Monday, the platform stated that it should be present in the CNTC, since this committee is made up of the main employers' organisations in the sector and because it serves as an interlocutor with the Ministry of Transport. The platform said that minister Óscar Puente had "declared war" on it, having changed the requirements to opt for representation within the CNTC.
The organisation leads in terms of the number of transport professionals, bringing together some 30,000 lorries belonging to a total of 9,437 small companies and self-employed workers, according to figures provided to SUR by the platform.
In the statement, Plataforma en Defensa del Transporte stated that it considers it confusing how a platform comprising a fleet of 30,000 lorries has no official representation to talk to the ministry. Other relevant organisations in the sector, such as Uno Logística, have also been excluded because, according to the ministry, they have not verified the authenticity of all the data provided.
"We cannot allow such an attack on the freedom of representation," the organisation said, warning to call an indefinite transport strike like the one in March 2022, when they were "denied dialogue with the ministry for being outside the CNTC".
For two years, the organisation has been denouncing the ministry's policy, stating that the government "only seeks to have as interlocutors those who are in the [its] interest, leaving out organisations which, despite representing active hauliers, can cause them trouble because of their loyalty to the sector".
