The unions representing road transport workers for both goods and passengers have started the intermittent strike this Monday in the province of Las Palmas. In Lanzarote, transporters have also joined the strike, and have demonstrated at the entrance of the César Manrique airport. A stoppage triggered by the failure to reach an agreement with the Federation of Transport Entrepreneurs (FET).
The minimum services, according to the FET, have been provided with "normality" so far today, both in the transport of goods and passengers, with the only incident being two of the private schools that have been left without transport, such as the one in Lanzarote.
The unions calling the strike of goods and passenger transport have expressed "their satisfaction" with the monitoring of this first day of protest and have expressed confidence that the employers will present an offer that will allow them to "suspend" the stoppages at the meeting scheduled for this Tuesday.
The spokesman for CCOO, Juan Miguel Suárez Santana, one of the convening unions, together with UGT and IC, told EFE that this Tuesday is an "important day" in which they hope that the Federation of Transport Entrepreneurs (FET) will transfer an "acceptable proposal" for salary improvement during the meeting, with which they would suspend the strike during the negotiation.
"The intermittent stoppages are set for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the transport of goods and Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays in the discretionary", the spokesman reported.
Regarding the proposal that the FET presented last Friday in the two meetings held with the unions in the Canarian Labor Court, he commented that it was at "the last moment and without time" to assess and that, given the experience of other conflicts in which "after what was offered has not been obtained, they decided to continue with the strike".
Suárez indicated that, in general, the "minimum services" set by the Canarian Government are being "respected", both in the "transport of goods and passengers", and specified that the "school in private centers is the most affected, since there are no minimum services marked for them".
The unions ask citizens to have "patience" in the face of the consequences of the strike, the "traffic queues" and the "pickets that have formed", as they are exercising "their rights to try to improve their working conditions and make the strike effective", said the CCOO spokesman.
Regarding the monitoring, he said that "it is variable", since there are "companies where no work has been done", although he emphasized that in the sector there are "many self-employed workers who are not affected by collective agreements and operate normally".
The general secretary of the FET, José Ángel Hernández, has stated, in statements broadcast to the media, that, with "general character and normally, the staff have gone to their jobs".
"With general character and normally, the staff have gone to their jobs"
Hernández commented that in the goods sector the loading request was advanced to the "past week" before the strike and that as a precaution some tour operators and cruise lines had already "canceled" the excursions. He also commented that the "fluidity of traffic" in the port area is the usual one on Monday.
In addition, the employers have reported that troops from the Civil Guard, National Police, Autonomous Police of the Canary Islands, local police and Port Police are present at strategic control points.