CP trains remain stopped this Friday

The strikes called by several unions at CP — Comboios de Portugal enter their third day this Friday, namely by train drivers, with the carrier failing to guarantee the circulation of trains.

On the carrier's website , CP recalls that “due to called strikes, […] major disruptions to traffic are expected, with a particular impact between May 7th and 13th”.

According to CP, “since minimum services were not defined by the Arbitration Court of the Economic and Social Council, CP does not guarantee the circulation of trains, especially on the 7th, 8th and 9th of May”.

According to an official source from CP, on Thursday, until 7:00 pm, no trains had been running.

The Arbitration Court explained on Thursday that it did not decree minimum services during the CP strikes, because the company warned that a 15% circulation did not guarantee the physical safety of passengers.

This clarification comes after “several news items and controversies that have come to light regarding the various strikes at CP” , said the Arbitration Court of the Economic and Social Council in a statement.

The Court highlights that what is at stake is not a single strike taking place between 7 and 14 May, but rather “several strikes, called by various unions, in the exercise of the right to strike, provided for in Article 57 of the Constitution”.

It also emphasizes that the failure to define minimum services does not contradict case law and that there was no understanding between the company and the unions regarding minimum services.

In this context, the Court “requested that CP — because this definition must be case-by-case, train by train — indicate the trains to be in circulation that correspond to 15% of the total number of trains that CP normally operates in its general activity throughout the country, requesting that this percentage be achieved on the urban lines of Lisbon and Porto, during the busiest periods, early morning and late afternoon on those three days, with CP acceding to this request”.

However, CP later warned that the “15% limit on urban lines in Lisbon and Porto could not guarantee the physical safety of passengers, both at stations and inside trains”.

Taking this scenario into account, the Court considered that it was “inadvisable” to decree minimum services of 15%, “because there was a serious risk of putting the lives and integrity of passengers at risk, which the company said it did not ensure”.

The strike on Wednesday and Thursday was called by the Trade Union Association of Intermediate Railway Operations Managers (ASCEF), the Independent Trade Union Association of Commercial Career Railway Workers (ASSIFECO), the Federation of Transport and Communications Trade Unions (FECTRANS), the National Transport, Communications and Public Works Trade Union (FENTCOP), the National Union of Railway Workers of the Movement and Related (SINAFE), the National Democratic Railway Union (SINDEFER), the Independent Union of Railway Workers of Infrastructure and Related (SINFA), the National Independent Union of Railway Workers (SINFB), the National Union of Transport and Industry Workers (SINTTI), the Independent Union of Railway Operators and Related (SIOFA), the National Union of Technical Staff (SNAQ), the National Union of Workers of the Sector Railway Workers Union (SNTSF), the Railway Transport Union (STF) and the Metro and Railway Workers Union (STMEFE).

This strike is joined by the one called by the Train Drivers' Union (SMAQ) and the one called by the Commercial Itinerant Review Railway Union (SFRCI).