The SATI union had warned that the strike action by TIB bus drivers would become indefinite this Friday if there wasn't sufficient movement on all its demands. Despite progress on working hours and rest periods, the employers' pay offer is below what the union is seeking. From Friday, therefore, the strike becomes daily. The 60% minimum service level continues to apply.
Union spokesperson Juan Rodríguez attributes Balearic Government mediation with having facilitated agreement on working hours and rest periods. On pay, however, he says the employers - Moventis, Grupo Ruiz and Sagalés-Caldentey are the three bus operators - "haven't been willing to budge one iota".
The proposed salary increase is 4% in the first year, 3% in the second, and 0.5% (plus increments for inflation) in the following two years. In total this amounts to twelve per cent over four years, an unsatisfactory offer for the union, which points to a 15% loss of purchasing power in recent years.
The SATI argues that operators' profits have been substantial since the pandemic, especially because of the significant increase in passenger numbers. Petra Mut of the Balearic Transport Federation, which negotiates on behalf of the companies, says "a great effort" has been made in offering concessions to the union.
On Friday, another protest is scheduled to be held outside the Palma Intermodal Station. Rodríguez says: "People remain just as motivated to see this through to the end. They are angry at having to perform minimum services because what they want is to strike."
EMT buses in Palma have been unaffected by the strike, but the works council has given its moral support to TIB drivers. Yellow vests have been placed by windscreens as a sign of solidarity. A statement reads: "It is regrettable that in these times of disproportionate increase in tourism and population growth in the Balearics, the employers' association and the government are failing to meet the demands for improved working conditions and wages."