The SFM committee is threatening strikes if the company does not provide a clear and concise document next week.

PalmThe management of Mallorca Railway Services (SFM) will present a document next week with its technical proposals for each of the 48 safety improvements proposed by the works council. This was agreed upon by both parties at a new meeting held this Thursday as part of the negotiations to improve safety on Mallorca's rail services following the fatal accidents in Adamuz (Córdoba) and Gelida (Barcelona).

During the meeting, SFM management and the works council agreed on a one-week deadline to resume talks, now with a formal document on the table. Thus, by Friday, February 12, the public company must have analyzed each of the 48 measures proposed by the workers' legal representatives and submitted a technical proposal. From this point, explained SFM's manager, José Ramón Orta, the works council will have to work on this proposal and decide if it is sufficient to reach an agreement and definitively avert the threat of partial strikes. "We're going to examine it, see if it can be signed, and if it can be presented to the workers with the improvements we're offering. There will be some issues left, and of course we'll have to meet to sign the final document," noted the president of the works council, Ricardo Mas.

The union leader has even shown a willingness to give another week if necessary, but has reiterated that the mobilizations are still on the table. "If they don't present something tangible at the assembly that resolves the internal procedures we've been using, we will call for strikes."

Security Committee

One of the main topics of debate in the negotiations, the establishment of the traffic safety commission that the committee has been demanding for six years, was also discussed this Thursday. According to Orta, the committee presented a draft of the regulations and bylaws for this future body last night. They will now have to study it and will do so "favorably," he said. "If we reach an agreement, which I believe we will, there won't be many problems. The first meeting of the commission will be convened on the first business day of March," the SFM manager announced. This body will be composed primarily of the two engineers who were hired at the end of last year specifically for this task, who will be accompanied by other technicians who have been with the company for decades. "We are in favor of establishing the commission; we have demonstrated this with our actions," Orta asserted. Furthermore, he expressed confidence that the package of proposals to be presented next week will also include others to "shape" the new body.

The works council, in a statement, deemed it "essential" that this body begin functioning effectively from the outset and not remain "a mere declaration of intent." "It is no longer enough to talk about future possibilities. The workforce needs concrete actions, agreements, and real guarantees regarding safety, maintenance, and working conditions," the legal representatives of the SFM workers stated.