Cantabria sets minimum services for the waste strike on the 11th

The Regional Ministry of Development, Housing, Territorial Planning and Environment has established, through Order FOM/13/2026, dated November 9, the minimum services that must be maintained during the strike called for November 11 at Tratamiento Integral de Residuos de Cantabria, S.L.U., the contractor for the domestic waste treatment service of the Autonomous Community. The provision is published in the extraordinary Official Gazette of Cantabria no. 30, dated November 10, 2026 (official reference CVE-2026-8905, pages 5708 to 5710), within the general provisions of the gazette. The strike affects the plant that treats domestic waste for all of Cantabria; therefore, its scope is regional and not municipal.

The proceedings began with the communication sent on October 27, 2026, by Joaquín Pérez Viota, representative of the company, which conveyed the strike notice approved by the Works Council, extending from 00:00 to 23:59 hours on November 11, 2026. The company provides the service under the public service concession contract formalized on June 27, 1991, and the order emphasizes that its stoppage could affect the health of citizens and the environment, rights proclaimed in Articles 43 and 45 of the Spanish Constitution.

The Administration justifies the intervention based on Article 28.2 of the Constitution and Article 10 of Royal Decree-Law 17/1977, of March 4, on labor relations, as well as the doctrine of the Constitutional Court established in judgments 11, 26 and 33/1981, 51/1986, 27/1989 and 43/1990. The order acknowledges that “there is no record of consensus” regarding the minimum services and cites the favorable report issued on October 29, 2026, by Medio Ambiente, Aguas, Residuos y Energía de Cantabria, S.A.M.P.

Pre-treatment and sorting, with two shifts covered

The annex of the order structures the minimum staffing by area. In pre-treatment, mechanical-biological treatment, and refining, the following are required:

• Area Coordination: 2 supervisors, one per shift.
• Weighbridge: 3 weighbridge operators, one per shift.
• Pre-treatment: 2 team leaders, 2 pulp operators, 4 primary sorting operators, 8 secondary sorting operators, and 6 forklift drivers or day assistants.
• Mechanical-biological treatment: 2 line operators, one per shift.
• Refining of bio-stabilized waste, glass, and slag: 2 team leaders, 2 truck drivers, 2 loader operators, and 6 forklift drivers or assistants for the control of the three lines.

Energy recovery maintains three shifts

The energy recovery plant, which operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in three shifts, maintains 3 shift supervisors, 3 control room operators, 3 field operators, and 3 “pulpo” (multi-purpose) operators, one for each shift. Added to them is 1 ash and reagent loading operator on the morning shift.

Maintenance and common areas

The common services of the facilities are covered by 1 operator in the common areas and a maintenance team consisting of 1 supervisor, 1 instrument technician, 3 electricians, and 8 mechanics. The order warns that these figures are understood without prejudice to any additional personnel designated to ensure the maintenance of the facilities affected by the contract.

Immediate effects and appeals process

Order FOM/13/2026 takes effect on the day of its publication in the Official Gazette of Cantabria, without prejudice to its notification to the interested parties, and classifies as illegal, for the purposes of article 16.1 of Royal Decree-Law 17/1977, the strikes and work disruptions of the personnel designated for essential services. The text respects the rights that strike regulations recognize for workers and the processing of the petitions that motivate them. Against the resolution, which exhausts the administrative route, an optional appeal for reversal may be filed within one month before the head of the Department, or a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed within two months before the High Court of Justice of Cantabria. The document was signed in Santander, on November 9, 2026, by the counselor Roberto Media Sainz.

The decision comes less than 24 hours before the start of the strike and with a setup that combines full shifts at the energy recovery plant with reduced staffing in the rest of the process, so that the strike does not stop the reception or treatment of domestic waste from the Cantabrian municipalities. For the city councils and for the citizens, the order anticipates that collection and treatment will remain operational on November 11, although with lower capacity, and establishes a legal framework that renders the strikes of the designated essential personnel illegal.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, extraordinary no. 30, of November 10, 2026, section 1. General Provisions, pp. 5708-5710 (official reference: CVE-2026-8905).