So tomorrow, the Metro strike is supposed to continue. Up until last week, the Madrid Metro system was the way to get around town. Not so anymore.
Magi heard that no trains are supposed to run, which makes me very angry indeed. The public transportation system is supposed to run at least 50% of their trains during a strike - minimal service for the 2 million or so people who use the Metro to get to work every day. Last Tuesday and Wednesday, they did not run any trains at all, which caused a huge tax on the bus system.
I have been personally inconvenienced by this, but the Metro strike - any public transportation strike - affects the productivity of all sectors where workers commute. All because Metro workers didn't want to take a 5% pay cut (yes, if you're on subsistence wages, that is a lot), every sector where workers commute is losing money. Their selfishness is causing other people to have to wait for buses, not work, and not get paid. For salaried workers who use the metro, their work is not being done.
With the Metro down, the buses have to take additional people, make additional stops, and use additional fuel. (I don't know how much energy it takes to run a Metro train, and I don't know if there are more buses being used to compensate for the lack of trains, but it seems like the air quality here is worse than in the past.) I feel that the metro workers are sloughing off their work onto the bus workers. The bus workers won't get additional payments for having to deal with extra people. However, it's not like taking more people is a major inconvenience; the routes run regardless of how many people there are.
It is grossly unfair of the workers to protest the wage cuts while taking away their regular commuters' working time. The economy is pretty bad, but it's bad for everyone. The Madrid metro workers should stop rocking the boat and let everyone get back to life using their otherwise phenomenal service and promptly-timed schedules.
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| Displeased. |
Hey, nice blog!
ReplyDeleteA lot of people are really struggling with this strike. Thankfully it now looks like it'll be off now until September...fingers crossed!
It's really bad for those traveling back and forth to work, last week there were fights in the street for taxis and it took me more than 2 hours to get to work (usually 20 minutes).
Luckily for tourists, Madrid is also one of the most walkable cities in the world...once you're in the center you can really do everything.
Awful for anyone who actually has to get things done, though!
Does anyone know if it's definitely off until September?
Best,
Chloé