ARCHIVED - Murcia city buses vote for indefinite strike from Easter
The ‘coloraos’ red bus drivers in Murcia are protesting proposed wage cuts
Drivers employed by Transportes de Murcia on the red city buses, better known locally as ‘coloraos’, have announced work stoppages beginning at Easter. Workers are demonstrating against the proposed 42% wage cut the company wants to implement to mitigate rising fuel costs.
Employee representative Miguel Cano confirmed that the strike action will begin on April 3, Holy Monday, and will continue until an agreement is reached on salaries.
"It will be indefinite,” he said on Tuesday March 21. “This is what the company workers agreed last night after an assembly."
There is “maximum tension” between the staff and business owners, Mr Cano explained, ever since the company refused to pay the bonus they usually receive at the beginning of March. Since the start of the year, each monthly payroll has also been between three and five days late, he added.
The coloraos workforce comprises 98 employees, among them drivers, mechanics, inspectors and administration and management personnel.
However, since the law demands that even when workers are striking they must provide minimum services to reduce public disruption, the planned stoppages should have very little impact. For this reason, another assembly is planned for next week where the employees will discuss lockdowns and other protest measures that will better convey their message.
In recent weeks, the workers have held meetings with the Councillor for Sustainable Mobility, Carmen Fructuoso , to try to find alternatives to the pay cuts and back in November, staff staged another strike when their pay was delayed.
Last month, unions representing Region of Murcia hospitality workers announced that their bar and restaurant staff would go on strike over Easter after month-long negotiations over wage increases reached another stalemate.
Image: Transportes de Murcia
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