MADRID, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Travelers in Spain face the risk of disruption as railway workers begin a series of strikes on Friday.
Workers for Spain's railway operator Renfe and infrastructure company ADIF are holding three separate two-hour stoppages as part of their protests against the breakdown of their collective bargaining agreement.
Unions also want to see plans put into effect to employ extra workers, which they say are needed in the system, while they also demand efforts to help lower the average age of the workforce.
The first stoppage was held between 12:00 and 2:00 a.m. local time (2200 and 0000 GMT) on Friday morning, with further stoppages scheduled between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 and 10:00 p.m., which will pose problems for those looking to travel after the end of the working week.
The Spanish public works ministry has imposed a high level of minimum services in order to try and minimize disruption.
The strikes follow a series of stoppages in September, which had a negligible effect on travelers and were due to have started last week. However, the unions postponed them as a result of the suspected act of sabotage in which communications wires were cut in Catalonia, suspending the high-speed connection between Barcelona and Madrid. The line was out of service for four hours and left around 10,000 passengers stranded.
Police are still investigating who could have cut the fiber-optic lines and have so far not announced any suspects in the case.
