Industrial action by employees of the EMT bus company was called off yesterday following a two-hour meeting between works committee representatives and Palma's mayor, Antoni Noguera.
An agreement in principle was reached with regard to the contentious issue of reserve drivers to cover for absenteeism. The town hall continued to stress the need for there to be cover for occasional absences but has agreed to there being a recruitment drive that will create stable employment.
The works committee, which had taken issue with the town hall's policy of hiring on the basis of merit only and without having tests, had also complained that the reserve drivers would be in a precarious contractual situation.
Yesterday morning's two-hour stoppage went ahead as planned and again attracted 100% support. The meeting with the mayor and the president of EMT, transport councillor Joan Ferrer took place after the stoppage had ended at ten o'clock. The immediate consequence of the agreement was to cancel the second two-hour stoppage that had been scheduled for yesterday afternoon.
