Lorry drivers intend to go on strike on six different dates between now and mid December.

The first day of a national road-transport strike has been scheduled by the workers unions, CC OO and UGT on the 28th. Following this there will be national-level strikes on the 11th, 28th and 29th of November, and then on the 5th and 9th of December.

This series of strikes will not only affect road haulage, but also buses, both intercity and municipal services.

The meeting yesterday between the unions and national, road-haulage companies and passenger, road transport ended without an agreement. What the meeting did manage to avoid was a strike involving ambulance drivers after an agreement was reached over retirement age.

In Spain there are around a quarter of a million lorry drivers working for road-haulage firms but there are also self-employed driver, whom the unions hope will join the coming strikes. If they do, the number of drivers would reach around half a million.

Those who will not be joining the strikes are taxi drivers and VTCs (Uber and Cabify, amongst others).

The object of the strike is to achieve early retirement for professional drivers. Both unions claim that the Central Government is “systematically blocking” such an agreement. The unions justify early retirement because of the number of road accidents involving transport drivers from 55 upwards.

(News: Spain)

Keywords: Strike, Unions, CCOO, UGT, Professional Drivers, Road Haulage, Passenger Transport, Taxis, Early Retirement, Central Government