The President of the Madeira Hotel Union, Adolfo Freitas, told reporters today “that we are not going to move forward with the Easter Strike,” following the workers’ plenary, which took place this afternoon.
Adolfo Freitas said that, as an alternative, a group of union leaders will be at the Madeira International Airport, on the 17th of April, “distributing notices to arriving tourists to advise them of the conditions hotel staff are working under. A similar action took place this morning, where tourists were given leaflets about the abuses hotel workers suffer in the region.”
At the same time, the Union is organizing a demonstration, whose location is yet to be disclosed – either at Quinta Vigia or the Regional Secretariat for Tourism,” where pamphlets demanding change will be handed out to passers-by.
The representative also said that the Madeira Hotel Union will meet again in April, to decide whether to go on strike at the Flower Festival.
At stake are the negotiations between the hotel union and ACIF, for wage increases in the hotel industry.
Last year, 152 new hotel workers were unionised, a sector that, according to the Union, employs 4 thousand people (excluding workers in an outsourcing regime). Of these, only 1,500 are union members.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
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