The metro strike leads to another day of delays to get to the Center and the Unicaja game

The second day of strike action has taken place on the Málaga metro during Holy Week. This Holy Wednesday, the partial stoppages occurred from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Unlike what happened on Holy Monday, this April 1st during the same time interval, the effect was bidirectional: towards the Center, for users trying to access the official route to watch the processions. But also towards Martín Carpena, where Unicaja is playing against Alba Berlin at 8:30 PM, in a 'Basketball Champions League' match.

As it has been doing since the start of the workers' mobilizations fighting for their collective agreement, SUR has visited several stations this Wednesday to check the impact. Indeed, passenger traffic, and therefore, saturation, was clearly lower than on Holy Monday. At that time, the influx of users wanting to see the procession of the Captive caused long queues and waits at the stops, where only trains running on minimum services (set by the Junta at 60%) operated. According to the Junta de Andalucía, the partial strike on the Málaga Metro occurred "without incidents or excessive crowds." According to the Junta, the 60% minimum services were met, and Metro de Málaga reports that the strike compliance was 82%.

Strike on Holy Thursday

By the same measure, it seems that this Holy Thursday, when the partial stoppages will take place from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM, the impact will again be very significant. The reduction in services during that time will directly affect the plans of thousands of attendees, who will try to reach the Center, where two of the biggest attractions of Málaga's Holy Week converge: the procession of the Virgin of Hope, and the parade of The Legion.

This Holy Thursday, when the partial stoppages will take place from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM, the impact will again be very significant

This Holy Wednesday, again, some of the workers gathered in protest in front of El Perchel station, next to María Zambrano. Given the lack of contact or progress with the company, union representatives have warned that protests might escalate soon. "After Holy Week we will continue with partial strikes, and we do not rule out going on an indefinite strike," warns Evaristo Castillo, CCOO delegate at the Metro de Málaga concessionaire. "Right now, negotiations are broken, we have no news, and the company refuses to meet with us." 

The president of the company committee, Alexis Martín (CSIF), confirms that the only way at the moment to get the management's attention is "to make the conflict known to the public." Therefore, he requests the mediation of the Junta de Andalucía.

What are the workers asking for?

The main point of contention is the sectorial salary alignment with the Metro de Sevilla. According to Martín and Castillo, there are groups in line operations who earn between 25% and 27% less than their counterparts in Seville. At this point, it's mostly a matter of timing, not just amounts: while the company proposes to achieve alignment by 2029, the staff demands that the update be concentrated within a maximum of two years.

Additionally, the issue of the CPI is raised, where the committee demands that inflation be reflected in the agreement through annual revisions or percentage increases. However, beyond the economic aspects, the workers' representatives emphasize that the company is "completely inflexible" on organizational matters.

In the case of continued driving, they request to regulate the maximum driving time to be around three hours, following the model of their counterparts in Barcelona. They also demand breaks for night staff and guarantees for a "dignified exit" for workers reaching retirement age. In these cases, they report, "the blockade is total."