The organizers concentrate their forces on a mobilization in the capital of Spain and appeal to farmers, ranchers and hoteliers to join it
The Platform in Defense of Transport has started its indefinite unemployment concentrating their forces in the center of Madrid, where they have called for a large demonstration starting at 10 in the morning at the Atocha roundabout. The organizers, isolated from all employers in the sector, have appealed to farmers, ranchers and hoteliers to join it. The main demand of the self-employed carriers and businessmen organizing the strike is that the Government apply effective measures to prevent them from working at a loss. That is why they have demanded more inspections from the Ministry of Transport to certify that large companies comply with the regulations. According to calculations by the OBS Business School, the transport stoppage can translate into a loss of up to 600 million euros per day.
After the meeting last Thursday between the spokesman for the Platform, Manuel Hernández, and the senior management of the Ministry of Transport ended without an agreement, the subsequent contacts have not been more successful and finally the strike has begun. From the Government they have prepared a operational to minimize the effectstaking advantage of the experience of last March, when during 20 consecutive days of strike the transporters related to the Platform managed to stress the supply chains of central and northwestern Spain.
In coordination with the Ministry of the Interior, the Executive will deploy police forces in the hot spots of the protests that already took place in March. That is, it will try to guarantee free passage in port areas and wholesale markets, which is where the protests of six months ago were focused. It will also promote the convoy strategy, so that carriers who intend to continue operating are grouped together and can be more easily escorted by police forces to a shared destination. Another measure will be to increase communications with road carriers to quickly detect pickets and mobilize police officers consequently, according to Ministry sources.
prepared supermarkets
In any case, supermarkets plan to start the week with their warehouses fuller than usual as a preventive measure. “This has an economic dimension that is very worrying: from the moment the strike is announced, it already has a cost,” sources in the sector explain. “The fundamental thing is to guarantee the safety and free movement of merchandise, and that there are no violent incidents & rdquor ;, they add. Above all, because no matter how much they increased the volume of stocks at the end of last week to deal with the hypothetical lack of some products, many of them, such as fresh ones, have to arrive at the supermarket that same day.
In this line, only the large business associations of the sector (AECOC, ACES, ANGED, ASEDAS & mldr;) spoke out. “We are a essential and strategic sectoras has been shown in the recent crises we have suffered, and we believe that the time has come for the Government to adopt measures that guarantee the good functioning of the food chain and the supply of food and beverages to the entire population in any situation, however exceptional it may be & rdquor ;, they stated in a joint statement.
600 million losses a day
The Platform faces a new indefinite strike more isolated than six months ago, when these autonomous carriers managed to build bridges with several of the partners of the main associations. This was the case, for example, of Fenadismer, which ended up supporting the protests. “They are trying by all means to make us disappear once and for all. […] They are already starting to fight back and we are already starting to push back. And that is what cannot be. That’s why we have to stand firm and not keep taking steps backwards“, said the spokesman for the Platform, Manuel Hernández, in a video on social networks.
The calls to call off the protests in order to avoid their economic effects have been widespread this week. At the gates of the start of the Black Friday campaign there was concern among the main business organizations. According to calculations by the OBS Business School, the transport strike could mean a loss of 600 million euros per day. That is why the employers have demanded a special protection for those carriers who would have wanted to maintain their activity during the protests, since, as it is not a strike, no minimum services are stipulated. The CEOE issued a statement in which they asked the Ministry of the Interior for sufficient police deployments to minimize the effects. And Pimec, for its part, also claimed protection for essential urban commerce. “The viability of thousands of small economic activities is at stake,” warned the president of Upta, Eduardo Abad.