Spain’s indefinite trucker strike called off after less than 2 days

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - An indefinite trucker strike in Spain that threatened to cause supply chain chaos during the holiday shopping season was called off Tuesday.

The strike lasted a little more than one day and deliveries continued with relative normalcy since it began Monday.

The platform behind the strike said it is suspending the labor action because of “a relentless campaign of harassment by shipping companies, national transport associations, government unions, some media and certain politicians.”

It said thousands of truckers complained about threats from shipping companies and authorities are not respecting the right to strike.

“The platform will not expose its people to this scenario,” it said in a statement.

The platform is the same that spearheaded a crippling 20-day strike in March that caused shops to hemorrhage millions of euros and factories to close production because they were not receiving products.

The platform represents a minority of Spain’s truckers, primarily self-employed workers and small businesses.

Experts warned if the same strike were to play out at this time of year, it could cost Spain’s economy €600 million ($623 million) per day.

But besides a protest in Madrid on Monday, where between 3,000 and 8,000 people attended and minor incidents were reported, this strike quickly fizzled out with minimal disruption.

Spanish Transport Minister Raquel Sanchez told broadcaster RTE on Tuesday that the end of the strike “is good news for the transport sector and for everyone else.”

She said the truckers had no reason to strike because the government has made significant advances to help the sector, including new legislation and diesel subsidies.

The main complaint of the truckers was that despite a new law prohibiting them from losing money on jobs, it was still a common practice.

Sanchez insisted that if truckers report law violations to authorities, labor inspectors will investigate.

Given that the platform behind the strike is not an official union or industry association, the government refused to directly negotiate with its leader.