The transfer of Rodalies from the Government to the Generalitat is one of the great issues of tension, historically, between the government of the autonomous community and the central government, and, for the moment, it does not seem to be on the way to stop being so. Now, a new actor has entered the dispute, the Renfe and Adif unions , which have called a 7-day strike to protest against the conditions under which this transfer is taking place.
The strike has the support of all the unions of the CGE -SEMAF, CCOO, UGT, CGT and SCF- and denounces the breach of the agreements signed on the transfer of Rodalies, the “legal insecurity” of the future of the workforce and the “covert privatization” of freight transport.
Although this is the first official strike to be called, the R2 Sud and R4 lines have already been suffering delays that Renfe attributes to the “labor conflict” in the company.
What days will the Renfe strike be?
The general works councils (CGE) of both companies have called seven strike days in March and April in different time slots
March: 17 (full strike day), 19 (from 06.00 to 09.00, from 14.00 to 17.00 and from 21.00 to 23.00), 24 (from 06.30 to 09.30, from 14.30 to 17.30 and from 20.30 to 22.30), 26 (full strike day) and 28 March (from 06.00 to 09.00, from 13.30 to 16.30 and from 20.30 to 23.30).
April: April 1 (full stop day) and April 3 (from 6:30 am to 9:30 am, from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm and from 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm).
Why did the unions call the strike?
The committees of Renfe and Adif consider that the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has failed to comply with the agreements that in November 2023 led to the cancellation of a first strike.
Some of the points of the agreement indicated that Renfe and Adif would continue to be the providers of Rodalies and Renfe Mercancías services, that the integrity of the workforces in both public companies would be preserved, and that working and negotiation groups would be established to adopt consensual solutions.
However, this strike comes to denounce that in the last meeting with the Ministry, held on February 17, it was announced the exclusion of the R1 line from the General Interest Railway Network (RFIG), which would allow it to ignore certain state regulations, and the creation of a joint venture outside Renfe to progressively assume all the operational activities of both state public companies.
In addition, among other claims, the strike also wants to denounce what they say is a process of “covert privatization” in Renfe Mercancías, which they believe the Government is carrying out through the creation of a new company controlled by the logistics company MSC, which Renfe wants to give entry into its capital.