Manuel Hernández ‘leads’ from YouTube to the ‘yellow vests’ of Spanish transport

The accusations of one and the other about who is behind the call for protests in the transport sector in Spain has clouded the debate on strikes in recent days. Where does the initiative come from? The answer is, as is becoming usual, in social networks. This driver uploaded a video to YouTube in which he exposed the problems of his union. As happens so many other times, it has gone viral and the protest is already unstoppable among all his colleagues.

Who is Manuel Hernandez? He is the leader of the National Platform for the Defense of Transport. In 2007, some carriers -in this case from Galicia and Albacete- tried to encourage the Associations and Federations that had already existed for many years to defend the sector, which was already suffering significant deterioration at that time. The objectives were clear, as it appears on the association’s website. They intend to promote the project to the maximum possible number of carriers so that they join and be able to acquire enough strength to be heard and attended by the rulers.

Hernández is a lifelong carrier. Born in Hellín (Albacete), he is also the son of a carrier. His rebellious attitude led to the creation of the platform that he leads today, born outside the traditional professional associations. The body recognized by the Government to negotiate the conditions of the sector is the National Committee for Road Transport (CNCT). Moncloa reached an agreement in principle between the CNTC. At this Monday’s meeting, the Government, through the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, has presented a battery of measures to discount the price of professional fuel that are valued at 500 million euros. According to the proposal, these will be financed between the State and the fuel distribution and marketing companies, although the percentages of each of them are yet to be specified.

The spokeswoman for the Executive, Isabel Rodríguez, has come to ensure that “it is a reaction that seems to be guided by the positions of the extreme right”

Although Hernández has emerged as the leader of the movement, he has not yet had the opportunity to sit at a table with the Government during this crisis. The Executive has decided to blame this carrier strike on the extreme right. The spokeswoman for the Executive, Isabel Rodríguez, has come to assure that “it is a reaction that seems to be guided by the positions of the extreme right” and has highlighted that, in the case of “a minority action”, the carriers “are not making use of their right to strike, but they are boycotting the rest of the workers who, at a time as complicated as this, are working to guarantee the supply of basic food”.

However, Manuel Hernández has criticized that “everyone is hanging labels and ideologies” when, as he has defended, they are “totally apolitical.” “I roundly condemn any kind of violence wherever it comes from”, he has expressed, while he has pointed out that those who carry out violent acts are “infiltrators”.

Rodríguez added that “these legitimate demands, due to the price of fuel, have nothing to do with what we are seeing today on the streets that put the lives of those who are working and the supply” of basic products at risk. “This is a full-fledged boycott and is encouraged by those positions of hatred that in no way favor dialogue and coexistence,” he assured.

In this way, the Platform for the Defense of the Transport Sector led by Manuel Hernández is not going to stop until it achieves its objective of not working at a loss, as they point out in all their interventions.

In addition, while the Government celebrates the agreement with the CNTC, the main employer of road freight transport, the assembly of Fenadismer, one of the federations that is part of this body, announces its rejection of the proposed measures. Less than two hours have been enough for the representatives of the SMEs and the self-employed who were present in the negotiations to have backed down on understanding that the proposal “still does not specify what help is going to reach each carrier” and have decided to join the stops.

In this sense, from Fenadismer and the two member federations of the National Committee for Road Transport that represent the self-employed and transport SMEs (Fenadismer, Fetransa and Feintra) agreed on Monday night to support the strikes since they understand that the measures that the Government proposes “do not allow for the moment to resume the activity of freight transport by road”. These federations consider that the announcement of these measures is “positive but insufficient in the current situation, with thousands of carriers stopped for more than a week, since their lack of specificity and forcefulness do not allow conveying security to carriers, mainly self-employed and SMEs, which are currently in a limit situation to be able to continue working in conditions of minimum profitability”, they admit.