Transtejo announced that it will not make the river connections between Cais do Sodré and Cacilhas during the night of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. In the afternoon there are also routes suppressed. The situation has been dragging on for days.
Transtejo Soflusa (TTSL) will not operate night-time boat connections between Cais do Sodré and Cacilhas this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the 20th, 21st and 22nd, due to the "lack of operational human resources"said the company. The government, through the Minister for the Environment, says that "it's absolutely unacceptable" and promises that he will try to solve the problem.
"Due to a lack of operational human resources, the regular transport service is interrupted at night" between Cais do Sodré and Cacilhasreads a notice on the TTSL website. The company had first announced the suspension of night routes on the 20th and 21st, but then added the 22nd and also a series of routes during the afternoon of Thursday and Friday, the 21st and 22nd, for the same reason. "operational human resources".
| Sense | Suppressed careers (21st and 22nd) |
|---|---|
| Cacilhas > Cais do Sodré | 13h35, 14h05, 14h35, 15h05, 15h33, 16h05, 16h30, 17h05, 17h35, 18h05, 18h32, 18h57, 19h25, 19h52 |
| Cais do Sodré > Cacilhas | 13h50, 14h20, 14h50, 15h20, 15h47, 16h17, 16h45, 17h20, 17h50, 18h20, 18h45, 19h10, 19h40, 20h05 |
| Sense | Last careers before the break |
|---|---|
| Cacilhas > Cais do Sodré | 20th: 20h55 | 21st: 20h38 | 22nd: 20h38 |
| Cais do Sodré > Cacilhas | 20th: 21h15 | 21st: 20h50 | 22nd: 20h50 |
Connections from the capital to Seixal, Montijo, Cacilhas and Trafaria/Porto Brandão, provided by Transtejo, will run as usual, as will the connection between Lisbon and Barreiro, provided by Soflusa. "We regret the inconvenience caused and thank you for your understanding"writes the company, which reports that, on the 23rd, the first careers will leave at 0:05 from Cacilhas and at 0:20 from Cais do Sodré.
This is not the first time
This is not the first time that TTSL has axed careers, citing its limited human resources. On October 18tha notice said that "it is only possible to guarantee a regular river transport service until 9pm" between Cais do Sodré and Seixal, offering "a mobility alternative" through Cacilhas and with road transportation between Cacilhas and the original destination, Seixal. The same had already happened on October 15th. Also on this day there was a cancellation of routes in the morning between Cacilhas and Cais do Sodré. On the 16thThere were only guaranteed connections between Lisbon and Montijo from 8 a.m. onwards; and on the 14thThere were no guaranteed boats on the Seixal route from 9pm onwards.
João Pedro Matos Fernandes, Minister for the Environment, announced this Wednesday, on the sidelines of a conference on mobility, that he is "the company's decision is absolutely unacceptable" to suspend careers. "I found out this morning. What the company is suggesting is absolutely unacceptable, so I'm going to work all afternoon today to make sure that doesn't happen"he told reporters.
The Federation of Transport and Communications Unions (FECTRANS) points out that the elimination of careers is "a structural issue arising from the lack of workers who are not hired". "These layoffs are not due to any labor conflict, but due to the lack of responses to the workers' demands, which include the hiring of new workers to replace those who are missing, but which the government continues to ignore and the ships can't operate without workers"says FECTRANS, in a statement. For the federation, which sides with TTSL's operational force, this company "can no longer be held hostage" the government's failure to respond to the workers' demands, which are "essential for the provision of a quality public service".
Transtejo and Softlusa workers have held several partial strikes this year, the last of which took place on September 21The unions also met with the Ministry of the Environment in an attempt to unblock the situation. Last week, they decided to hold five more days of partial strike action, but have not yet set any dates.
