The carriers decide today if they resume the strike
The National Platform that urged the March mobilizations will consult its associates this Sunday if they stop their activity again due to the rise in costs
Fuels are at record highs and carriers are suffering the consequences. Gasoline marked this Sunday an average price of 2.13 euros per liter, while diesel has reached 2.10 euros, so the Government subsidy of 20 cents per liter has been diluted, especially for this sector which mobilized in the month of March, paralyzing food distribution in certain areas of the country.
For this reason, the president of the Platform in Defense of Transport and leader of the strikes three months ago, Manuel Hernández, assured a few days ago that if the administration did not remedy this situation they would be forced to "reactivate the strike that was suspended on the 2 of April". In statements to this newspaper, Hernández explained that if the Government's promises are not fulfilled -among which the law that prohibits the hiring of transport services at a loss stands out-, the Platform will return to "indefinite unemployment".
The threat is not a joke. This same Sunday the Platform will consult in all its provincial delegations to its associates if they resume the mobilizations. If so, the reactivation of the strike would take place in July, although the day has yet to be decided, because they have given the Executive until June 30 as the deadline to obtain a response to their demands.
The Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, within the framework of the strike that took place in March, promised to approve a law that prohibits working at a loss, based on the principles of the already existing Food Chain Law, before the day July 30, so there would still be a month left.
In any case, from the sector they explain that the decision to work at a loss falls on each of the transport companies that decide to provide a service to a client for an already agreed price. But the competition between companies and the self-employed means that orders are accepted that, with current fuel prices, are not profitable.
For its part, the National Committee for Road Transport (CNTC) -the sector's highest representative body- sent a letter to the ministry last week asking for aid to the sector such as the fuel subsidy reaching 40 cents per liter or the extension of direct aid to carriers. On the other hand, for now they are not considering calling a strike that the agri-food sector has already warned would be "unaffordable."
