Adif certified to the Generalitat this Wednesday early in the afternoon that the Rodalies tracks, a total of 1,200 kilometers of network, were validated to reactivate the service and this Thursday at dawn Renfe had arranged its fleet of trains, 270 units, to recover circulation and return to providing service to users, some 400,000 daily on average, who despite the constant incidents trust in Rodalies to get around. To the puzzle: the machinists. The group has toughened its demands regarding safety requirements, following the shock caused by the death of a young 27-year-old train driver in the accident in Gelida (Barcelona). The negotiation has tightened and the conflict between the train drivers’ unions with Renfe and the administrations has intensified, a dispute that escalated with the agreement between the Ministry of Transport and the Generalitat for the transfer of powers over Rodalies to Catalonia.
On Wednesday afternoon, when they announced that the commuter train service could be recovered this Thursday, the Minister of Territory Sílvia Paneque and the Minister of the Presidency of the Generalitat, Albert Dalmau, who is at the head of the Government while Salvador Illa is on sick leave, already alluded to the labor “conflict” that is nesting within Rodalies. They did it to advance that, despite the fact that the roads were reviewed, other types of complications could arise: “It will not be an easy day.” In reality, it has been another unfortunate day for mobility in Catalonia.
Renfe publicly acknowledges that there is a situation of “conflict with the driving staff.” The tension between the train drivers and the Generalitat and the Government goes back a long way and especially surfaced with the agreement for the transfer of powers over Rodalies. Already in 2021, when the political conversations were barely embryonic, the train drivers faced what they defined as labor “kidnapping.” They made explicit their opposition to the possibility of ceasing to belong to the State personnel body to join the staff of the Catalan administration.
Months later, the acceleration of the matter through a negotiation between ERC and Pedro Sánchez to delegate the provision of the commuter rail service to the Generalitat poisoned the deal with the train drivers. One of the first hot topics on the table upon taking office was the call for a strike by the Renfe train drivers that threatened to take place throughout Spain for at least five days, including the one before the Constitution Bridge.
“The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility expresses its firm commitment to maintaining the socio-labor conditions of the workforce and especially, with the guarantee of integrity of the Renfe and Adif Group, maintaining its workforce,” the Government stated in writing, and managed to save the strike. Two weeks ago, Minister Puente and Salvador Illa who has to manage Rodalies services in Catalonia.
The train drivers have not called an official strike for this Thursday in Catalonia but their absence in the cabins has, in fact, paralyzed the entire service. In this context of confrontation, there is also a strike called for the next February 9, 10 and 11.
In Catalonia there are few vocations to be a machinist and many of the positions in Rodalies are filled with professionals who come from other parts of Spain, who start their careers in their chosen destination. That was the case of . A native of Seville, he was undergoing an internship in Catalonia to complete his training.
After some time and as they accumulate experience and seniority, moving to other destinations is common. In this sense, train drivers have always seen integration into the Catalan administration as a threat to their professional freedom.
