Handling company SPDH Menzies – formerly Groundforce is on strike and has caused chaos at Lisbon airport.
As such, there is a mountain of luggage at Lisbon airport. Trade Unionist, Carlos Araújo, had this to say:
“Those who travel for work or on vacation will not receive their suitcase; it will be decided whether the suitcase will be forwarded to its destination or wait for its owners to return,” he said, speaking to Radio JMFM, giving an account of this consequence of the stoppage by the workers. During the morning/early afternoon, 25 flights had departed from Humberto Delgado airport without passengers’ luggage.
It should be recalled that this is the first of five four-day strikes scheduled for every weekend until the beginning of September. In August, strike periods are scheduled for the 8th to 11th, 15th to 18th, 22th to 25th, and 29th to September 1st.
In a statement, the union accused SPdH/Menzies of being “flagrantly violating the right to strike” to try to neutralise the effects of the stoppage, using illegal practices such as the forced anticipation of shifts and summoning of workers on days off, the replacement of strikers by workers from temporary work companies and the abusive reorganisation of schedules.
“SIMA is collecting evidence of these illegalities and will file formal complaints with the Authority for Working Conditions (ACT) and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, demanding the accountability of the CEO’s of Menzies/SPdH,” he said.
Among the workers’ demands are the end of base wages below the national minimum wage, the payment of night hours, better wage conditions, and the maintenance of access to the car park in the same way as before.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
