Strike in road transport sector over rising fuel costs

The Spanish road transport sector faces major challenges caused by soaring fuel costs and falling demand in transport services. Workers representing small haulage companies went out on strike in June in protest against the cost of fuel. Tthe week-long strike was not supported by the large hauliers. The dispute ended when the main representative employer organisation signed an agreement with the government. However, the agreement does not set a minimum rate for transport services, nor does it comprise any strategic solutions for the sector’s future viability.

Reasons for strike action

On 8 June 2008, an indefinite strike began in Spain’s road transport sector to protest against rising fuel prices. The week-long haulier strike led to road blocks, traffic jams, blocked borders and supply problems in some service stations and supermarkets. The background to the dispute concerns the declining demand for transport services, along with the increase in fuel prices. The latter aspect reduces significantly the profit margins of thousands of small companies which developed during the past decade of economic growth.

The organisations which called the strikes mostly represent small businesses run by self-employed workers, including the Spanish National Federation of Transport Associations (Federación Nacional de Asociaciones de Transporte de España, Fenadismer), the National Road Transport Confederation (Confederación Nacional de Transporte por Carretera, Confedetrans), the National Association of International Haulage Contractors (Asociación Nacional de Transportistas Internacionales Discrecionales, Antid) and the Platform to Defend Road Transport (Plataforma para la defensa del Transporte por Carretera, Plataforma).

All of these organisations maintained the protest action although the government reached an agreement on 11 June 2008 with the organisation viewed as the most representative in the sector, the Spanish Confederation of Goods Transport (Confederación Española de Transporte de Mercancías, CETM). CETM, which comprises the large companies of the sector, did not support the strike and holds most of the social partner representation on the government’s advisory body for the sector, the National Road Transport Committee (Comité Nacional del Transporte por Carretera, CNTC).

However, not all of the organisations calling the strike are represented on the CNTC. As a result, they rejected the agreement and claimed that the signatories did not represent the interests of the thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises run by self-employed workers who have their own vehicles. In general, the large companies tend to act as intermediaries and maintain their profit margins by subcontracting transport services to small hauliers at much lower prices. For this reason, the organisations representing self-employed hauliers demand the setting of a minimum price for transport services, in order to prevent such services being contracted at rates lower than cost.

Provisions of agreement

The agreement of 11 June includes a significant package of measures to support the sustainability of the road transport sector in Spain; for instance, it provides for the possibility of deferring the payment of social security contributions by up to a year, as well as to reduce the tax burden of companies.

Furthermore, the agreement reflects the government’s support for adjusting EU regulations on working time in the sector within the framework of collective bargaining between employer organisations and trade unions. The transposition of Council Directive 2002/15/EC on the organisation of working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities into Spanish law had been criticised by the sector’s employer organisations.

The government promised to press the European Commission to accept low-tax fuel for professional use in order to ease the rising cost of fuel – this was also one of the demands of the organisations calling the strike. The government was initially opposed to this measure since, by 2012, Spain must comply with EU Council Directive 2003/96/EC on energy tax harmonisation. This requirement means that Spain will have to raise hydrocarbon taxes, which are currently below the minimum levels of the EU.

The establishment of a minimum rate for transport services, which was the main demand of the strike, was rejected. The government stated that such a measure could not be included in the agreement as it opposes the free market principle and is incompatible with European competition regulations. Nonetheless, the agreement does include a clause on the automatic revision of transport prices according to changes in fuel prices – a concession to the strikers’ demands.

Reactions of social partners

On 16 June, after a week of intense protest action, most organisations supporting the strike decided to call it off. However, they accused the government of providing a false solution to the crisis since the agreement will only benefit large hauliers. The main national trade union confederations – the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (Comisiones Obreras, CC.OO), the General Workers’ Confederation (Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT) and their respective federations – kept out of the dispute as they considered it rather as a lock-out than a strike. They called for the application of structural reforms in the sector in order to curb the excess supply. This would mean the urgent application of measures with the aim of reducing the number of small enterprises and fostering market concentration to meet the decreasing demand for road transport.

Juan Arasanz Díaz, QUIT, University Autònoma of Barcelona (UAB)