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If you tried to catch a bus in Murcia on Wednesday morning and found yourself waiting longer than usual, you weren't alone, and you probably weren't warned either. The first of two strike days called across the Region of Murcia got under way on Wednesday July 1, and for many passengers the biggest frustration wasn't the reduced service itself. It was finding out about it only when it was already too late to make other plans.

 

Francisco Ruipérez, from the Platform in Defence of Public Transport in Murcia, was blunt about where the blame lies. "The Ayuntamiento should have announced in advance that the service would be reduced by half," he said, adding that the warning "should have been issued this weekend along with the schedules." Instead, he says, "the timetables only arrived last night on the transport websites." He also pointed out that things were handled rather differently elsewhere: "In Cartagena they did give citizens plenty of notice."

 

The Murcia Ayuntamiento, for its part, said there had been no incidents since early morning and that the concession companies had informed passengers on board buses and via social media. Francisco Tomás Muñoz, from the Murcia Transport Committee, sees it differently. "We are the only ones who have notified users about the strike," he said, describing how "many users were surprised this morning by the reduced services." He also didn't hold back on the minimum service levels themselves, calling them "abusive, as it limits our right to strike."

 

The people feeling it most are those who depend on buses connecting outlying districts to the city centre. Routes serving El Palmar, Los Ramos, Beniel, Santomera, Espinardo and Algezares are among those most affected, and Ruipérez is clear that residents on these lines "cannot avoid using the bus." The timing hasn't helped either, with the strike coinciding with the start of the summer timetable, which had already reduced the number of journeys.

 

The tram is also running on minimum services, at 60% during peak hours and 40% off-peak. Workers say the strike has 100% support across the Region, and a demonstration is planned for Thursday July 2 from 9.00am to 11.00am, setting off from Plaza Circular, along Gran Vía and finishing at the Murcia Ayuntamiento.

 

The union FeSMC-UGT has been pushing for three months for what it describes as basic improvements: recognition of the tram driver category, a 2.9% pay rise linked to the CPI, better shift patterns and three extra payments. Mediation talks at OMAL failed on Tuesday, and since then, says Muñoz, neither the companies nor the Ayuntamiento have made any further contact.

 

 

 

 

Image: wikicommons