There will be stoppages on Monday. While waiting for a new meeting next Tuesday at the Mediation and Arbitration Service (SAMA), the Zaragoza urban bus concession company and the committee have still not found a point of agreement to agree on a new collective agreement and settle a labor dispute For almost 560 days, it has condemned citizens to suffer the effects of a strike that threatens to become chronic. On Monday, the hours of the partial strikes are as follows: from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. early this Friday morning: in the midst of general weariness due to the lack of agreement, the SAMA made a proposal to the parties to see if this could unblock the situation at an intermediate point between the demands of the committee and the red lines of the company. But neither Avanza nor the representatives of the workers accepted the document presented, so the city will continue to support the strikes at least on Monday and Tuesday of next week. Regarding the rest of the points of the agreement, the approach of the SAMA adheres to to the last offer of the company, both in the agreed aspects and in those that were not, according to the unions. The mediators asked the unions to suspend the stoppages and submit the proposal to a referendum. And the committee again said no. What does the SAMA propose? In the first place, it takes for granted what was already agreed by the parties and that was included in the platform delivered by the company at half past six on Thursday. On the other, it delves into the economic issue, the biggest stumbling block to date in the negotiation. Regarding salary increases, it raises 8.5% for the years 2021 (1%), 2022 (4%) and 2023 (3.5%), in addition to the 0.7% already applied in 2020. It raises half a point the company’s proposal for the year 2022, which was 3.5%. On the other hand, there is the salary revision clause, which establishes that if the sum of the real CPIs for the years 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 exceed salary caps, a cap of 12% would be applied and not 11.25% as proposed by the company. The economic effects of this clause would be effective as of January 1, 2024. Suspension of the strike The mediators’ proposal has a key aspect: it is necessary to suspend the strike from September 5, the day from which it is expected that the partial stoppages affect every day of the week, until such time as a referendum is held among the workforce in which the proposal is consulted. But the committee refuses not only to call off the strike, but also to know if their colleagues would accept the new conditions proposed by the SAMA. The president of the works council, José Manuel Montañés, maintains in a statement that the workers cannot accept the company’s latest platform “unfinished closing all items.” On the other hand, they say that “it is still very low” an accumulated salary increase of 8.5%, despite the improvement of half a point with respect to the company’s approach. According to their accounts, with that percentage they would lose 9.5% only in the years 2021 and 2022. On the other hand, the unions accuse the company of refusing to cover the economic deficiencies of the agreement by negotiating other articles.” “This proposal condemns us to continue losing purchasing power,” says Montañés, who demands a new improvement from Avanza. The company’s objections “It is above our economic possibilities.” With these words, the director of Avanza in Zaragoza, Guillermo Ríos, received the mediators’ proposal. “We were already at our peak,” explained the director, who noted, however, that the committee transmitted in the SAMA that in any case they were going to study the proposal. The company even planned a new meeting yesterday, but according to Ríos, the workers said they “needed time” and agreed to meet again on Tuesday. But in any case, Ríos said it is “incomprehensible” that the unions do not lift the strikes. at least next week, with the start of the school year and the return to activity, which implies a significant increase in the number of travellers. “They harm the service, citizens and travelers. Also to the workers themselves with their attitude”, said the director of Avanza. He added that the company has always defended the need to submit the proposals made during the negotiation process to a referendum among the workforce.