Lanzarote bus drivers threaten strike

Drivers for Arrecife Bus, the island’s island-wide bus service, have threatened to strike from mid-April unless demands for proper break periods and weekends off are met.

The CCOO trade union has issued a statement calling for employers to guarantee that drivers have at least one weekend a month free. They are also asking for a break period of 30 minutes in an eight-hour shift to be reinstated, after the company reduced it to just 15 minutes.

“The workers barely have time to attend to toilet necessities or to eat,” claim the union.

The Federation of Citizens’ Services, the union representing most drivers, said “Tiredness kills on the road, which is why we describe what the company is doing as recklessness”.