Bus crisis in Fuengirola ends after four months of strike action

Strike action by Fuengirola municipal bus workers has finally come to an end after more than four months of regular stoppages. The company UTE Urbano de Fuengirola, formed by Grupo Interbus and Damas, has reached an agreement with the staff, who were represented by the free transport union organisation (SLT).

According to the union’s organising secretary, José María Cazallas, the new agreement that will govern workers’ conditions includes a 12 per cent wage increase for 2024/5, four per cent for 2026/7, and five per cent for 2028 for some of the staff. The increases are specifically for workers who have joined the service more recently, as the other workers were maintained under the conditions they had with the previous company, with which salaries were higher.

A 40-hour working week has also been agreed, with a maximum of nine hours of work per day. Nor will time be deducted for snack breaks, refuelling, or check-in and check-out, so that the normal working day is expected to be seven hours, plus one hour dedicated to all these tasks.

These are the main conditions of an agreement that for the union representative is “positive”, since “the working conditions of the new employees have been improved and the subrogated employees have their conditions respected and their rights recovered, especially with regard to working hours, which are now more limited”.

Even so, the union still believes the town hall has to “review some lines” so that the schedules can be adjusted as much as possible and to “ensure that workers no longer have to endure the long shifts they had until now”.

For its part, the council announced the restoration of the normal services of the different lines after the conclusion of this agreement and highlighted its role as “mediator” in the conflict.