Portugal declares 'energy crisis' as fuel supply runs low - Polidicks

LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal declared an “energy crisis” on Tuesday after a strike by fuel truck drivers hit the country, forcing the government to order striking workers to get back on the road immediately as airports resorted to emergency reserves. ... An energy crisis was declared by the government on Tuesday evening, meaning security and emergency services now have priority when it comes to refueling at gas stations. In addition, an alert was issued to ensure security forces are mobilized to run fuel supply operations and guarantee people’s safety. The government said in a statement the strike was also affecting fire stations, ports, public transport companies and gas stations. ... Across the country, panicked drivers queued outside gas stations to fill up their tanks. More than 200 gas stations were already shut. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-portugal-strike-fuel/portugal-declares-energy-crisis-as-fuel-supply-runs-low-idUSKCN1RS1TT

I lack sufficient context as to why so much tension was allowed to build up in the first place and cannot pass judgement on who's in the right or wrong here.

When in doubt, blame the government. You can't go wrong with that.

Truck drivers who specialize in transporting dangerous materials are on strike. They are striking because they get paid a hair over minimum wage and they maybe get a bonus for hazardous ocupation (not all drivers are paid this bonus). You need to take a series of courses on top of the licenses to be a truck a driver just to be able to transport dangerous materials. To be honest I was caught off guard by this strike only on day 2 of the strike did I see it on the news.

Same here, heard about the strike then all of a sudden there's energy crisis all over the news the next day, really came out of nowhere and I guess it shows just how crucial these guys are.

Apparently 1500+ petrol stations closed this morning with 1 hour+ queues at the remaining stations according to Euronews.

How is it possible to feel at ease during such times? It feels like we're living in the start of an apocalypse and are waiting for our impending doom.

Reuters reports they agreed to supply 40% of fuel stations in metropolitan areas though. Probably going to ruin a lot of people's Easter holidays.

what the fuck. I thought the pay for truckers here in the US was bad, but that's fucking criminal to pay that little for a very skilled and dangerous job.

Near my place is a gas station. When news broke out that the station was going to be refilled in the afternoon, cars starting piling up, forming queues just to get in. Eventually people started forming second and third queues, which resulted in massive traffic jams for hours around here. This crisis was worsened by the fact that here we have a law that states that when a service goes on strike, it is mandated to provide minimum services (aka, not stop 100%), which makes sense especially in this case because you need to refill police and ambulance cars vehicles, but the truck drivers did not follow through on the minimum service requirements.

Wages in trucking is quite fluxuating here in Europe at the moment because of EUs free movement of labour, here in Sweden we have drivers making fair amounts of money and then romanian or bulgarian drivers that work for around €500 month.

because the government bends over right away after strikes like this start to send the country down the shitter. Teachers on strike sadly don't make them move this fast over things that they have the right in the first place, but when doctors/nurses or a large group of people working in a field critical for the country to run go on strike, shit gets really bad, as we can see here, and you either give in to their demands, or you'll go from a country held up in ransom to a country in flames. Meanwhile, public sector employees complain day and night about not having what they are entitled to, even though they will never EVER have it as bad as someone like me or my parents. Oh you don't like to work from 9 to 17? You want to be payed more? You want an even better pension? You want tax breaks on health appointments? Right this way sir, we'll take care of you right away!

It's over: LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese fuel-tanker drivers have ended a national strike after agreeing to return to negotiations over demands for better pay and conditions, the government said on Thursday, ending the country’s worst outbreak of industrial unrest in years. ... Santos said the agreement to return to negotiations had been reached in talks between the government, the employers’ association and the union representing striking drivers. With the government acting as mediator, both parties will return to the negotiating table on April 29 and are committed to reach a final agreement by the end of the year. About 2,000 petrol stations ran low on fuel supplies on Wednesday, according to emergency services platform VOST Portugal. At least one factory halted production and some bus routes around Lisbon were suspended. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-portugal-strike-fuel/portugals-fuel-tanker-truckers-call-off-damaging-strike-idUKKCN1RU0XO

Fun fact: if people didn't freak out, we'd have enough fuel for everyone for at least a week.

Perhaps instead of hammering down on people who are exercising industrial action to better their work field find out why you don't have the same strength as them. Where are your trade unions and workers activists? Where is your lobbying on the government for better laws and regulations?

While there was panic all around, highways had a lot of fuel for a long time. I had to fill my car with fuel and I had to wait 2 hours to do so. But a colleague of mine went to one of the stations on the highway and the lady there told him that there was enough fuel for 3 weeks. I'm glad this is over.

What strength? We got timed contracts with every company nowadays. You work the hell out of your ass and you still get fired. Some places ask if you belong to a union so that they won't hire you right from the getgo. And when you do get fired, you're almost treated like a criminal on house arrest. Why are public servants constantly asking for more and more and more when they work fucking desk jobs from 9 to 5, if not earlier, got full benefits and can retire sooner, yet someone like me will have to retire when I'm 80 years old in 2050, receive fucking chucky cheese tokens for a pension, pay a fuckton for medical bills which I will surely have because I didn't have a desk job and instead had to bend metal all my life in ever changing schedules, despite having the same habilities as them. After the 25 of April, everyone stopped. Nobody rebels for anything other than fucking soccer and an actual very select few things, like teachers who actually should rebel because they really have it bad every now and then. Fucking IRS public servants though? Lmao, what else do they want? A lambo a month?