Madrid — The Spanish government offered truck drivers a rebate on fuels on Friday as well as a one-time cash bonus in an effort to end a strike that has led to shortages and pushed firms to scale back production.
The package of measure – a rebate of 0.20 euros ($0.22) per litre of fuel and a 1,200 euro bonus – will cost the government about 1 billion euros, Transport Minister Raquel Sanchez told reporters after talks that ran through Thursday night.
“We have always been aware of the hardship that the transport industry like other sectors face as they are hit by the energy crisis that was intensified by the Russian aggression to Ukraine,” she said on Friday.
The rebate on fuel prices, a quarter of which will be paid by oil companies, will also apply to other transport companies, she added. Bus, light truck, ambulance and taxi drivers will also receive smaller bonuses.
The strike began on March 14 when a group of drivers and small truck owners began blocking roads and ports in response to rising costs, which have been exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Three transport associations joined after the government proposed a 500 million euro aid package on Monday that drivers quickly dismissed as insufficient.
Taxi drivers stopped working in parts of the country and the national fishing fleet also temporarily halted operations.
Spain’s CEOE business association on Wednesday complained that the government had been slow to act compared with neighbouring France and Portugal.
Retailers have urged consumers not to panic buy and stressed that food supplies are guaranteed, although there are shortages of some goods.
One of the main truck operator associations backed the government measures, though it is unclear whether the truckers from the loose protest group will accept to return to work despite the call from Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to end the strike. (Reporting by Nathan Allen, Belen Carreno and Inti Landauro, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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