Underground strike set to cause travel woes at Barcelona mobile event

Barcelona (dpa) - Employees of Barcelona‘s underground train network are planning a walkout this week, in a strike action set to coincide with the world‘s largest telecommunications event.Underground staff will strike on Monday and Wednesday amid a dispute about short-term contracts and pay. Unions announced the decision on Sunday, after the collapse of renewed negotiations.The announcement comes one day before the launch of the 2016 Mobile World Congress, which is expected to attract almost 100,000 participants to the Spanish city during a four-day period.The Catalan capital constructed a new underground line, which opened ahead of the event, to take visitors from the airport directly to the venue.But on the days of the strike, services across the city will be running at 50 per cent during peak times and at just 30 per cent at other times.City Mayor Ada Colau was unable to strike a deal with unions, who are demanding that 600 short-term employees be given permanent contracts. They also consider the 1-per-cent pay rise offered to workers in 2016 insufficient.