The new Collective Labor Agreement (CCT) for drivers of heavy goods transport was signed today in Lisbon with employers and trade unionists highlighting changes that go well beyond wages.
The new CCT replaces the old man of more than 20 years and is the result of more than two years of negotiations. A justified delay, moreover, by the revision of practically all the clauses, adapting it to the new reality of the market, the companies and the drivers.
But, after all, what changes?
"With regard to the organization of working time, the new CCTV eliminates, for example, the 24-hour rest obligation required of international drivers before the commencement of a new journey, which adds to the weekly rest days.
"The document also makes clear that work on the supplementary weekly rest day (as a rule, Saturday) does not give compensatory rest. It should also be noted here that the introduction of a figure similar to the exemption of working hours for drivers assigned to the national service, in the terms only available to international drivers. It is thus recognized that there is a major time effort currently required for drivers involved in national transport.
"The new CCTV also requires a greater degree of professionalism, mirroring, first, the specific duties that are expected for drivers, which are faced by greater training obligations on the part of companies, which will have to in turn, the costs of maintaining the legal certifications of access to the profession of its workers.
"In order to distinguish and compensate workers - according to the difficulty of the type of transport service they carry out - the new CCTV also changes the payment structure, introducing the figure of salary supplements, with different values ??depending on the used and the geographical scope of transport.
"As regards remuneration, the daily subsistence clause is now introduced, which replaces the previous form of payment envisaged, which had no practical application - payment of the bill for meal expenses for international drivers. In this particular case, undertakings are free to adopt their calculation systems, but are limited to a maximum and a minimum / day, calculated on the basis of the overnight stay for a driver who has moved.
"In the area of ??professionalization of the sector, it should be noted that the regime of the experimental period was changed, with drivers instead of the current 15 days of the experimental period - manifestly insufficient in view of the professional requirements and skills that have to be 90 days, plus the period for the initial training given to him.
