Limited access TRAIN STRIKE THREATENED

THE town hall of Felanitx has announced that it has restricted access to the s’Algar natural area in Portocolom for vehicles, and sand buggies from organised excursions. By doing this, the public paths in the natural area should be affected as little as possible. The town hall also wants to minimise the risk of forest fires. In general, the regulation is about keeping the impact on the environment in the area as low as possible in view of the high volume of vehicles in summer.

However, the new regulation does not apply to everyone. Elderly people or people with restricted mobility, for example, should continue to be able to drive into the nature reserve with their vehicles. The new rule will not be a ban, more a restriction on numbers.

THE employees of the historic Soller train in Mallorca want to go on strike. The company’s works council decided on Thursday, August 10 that work would be stopped around the clock for eight days. The dates are scheduled for August 22, 23, 29, 30 and 31 and September 7, 8 and 9. The UGT, CCOO and STEI­i trade unions have submitted the relevant applications to the Balearic Ministry of Labour and to the Tamib Conciliation and Arbitration Court.

The reason for the walkout is the stalled negotiations on a new collective agreement. At the beginning of the year, the management announced that a salary increase would only be possible if the General Directorate for Mobility agreed to an increase in ticket prices.

This was waved through just before the regional elections. Since then, according to the works council, negotiations have not made any progress.

The workers are demanding a salary increase of 7 per cent for 2023 and a further 4 per cent for 2024.

In addition, the workers demand a guarantee that the so­called ‘fijos discontinuos’ runs for nine months a year. The contract model popular on the Balearic Islands stipulates that the workers are permanently employed, but only work for a certain period of time per year. Furthermore, holidays and work schedules should be better regulated.

The company said in a press release that it would offer workers a 5 per cent increase in the first year, a 3.5 per cent increase in the second year, and an additional 3 per cent in the third year.

Jo Pugh

THE rescue and first aid services of the Balearic Islands have provided 17,468 rescues and more than 100,000 actions for careless behaviour since May 1, the start of the bathing season. The Ministry of the Presidency and Public Administration reported on Monday, August 14 in a statement that, of the total number of rescues, 17,248 were resolved without the need for going to hospital. The remaining 219 cases were serious incidents.

So far, 385 aquatic rescues have been carried out, 114 due to currents,