“We will not accept arrogance, lies, or cronyism with unions. We will never lift strikes without signed documents,” warns the Union of Metallurgical and Related Industries (SIMA) in a statement issued today. The statement comes in the wake of industrial action by Menzies staff, which is affecting the normal functioning of airports. Furthermore, workers will strike next weekend, from 00:00 on the 22nd until 24:00 on the 25th.
“On the eve of the third 4-day strike period, SIMA tried, once again, to open a channel of dialogue with SPdH/Menzies. The answer was the same as always, “we do not negotiate with strike notices.” But we remember that they also did not negotiate when there was no prior notice. The truth is simple: they never wanted to negotiate, they don’t want to negotiate, and they say that there is nothing to discuss until the end of 2026. We do not accept this. We do not accept illegal, immoral work practices that are out of step with current market conditions,” says the Union.
After the union structure was allegedly informed that there was a will to resolve the conflict between the company and workers, the strike notice was requested.
This “taking into account the positive conversations with TAP and internal indications that the management of Menzies PLC would be willing to accept our claims as they are fair and feasible, we understand that there were conditions to close the notice and start a serious dialogue,” explained the Union, which quickly realised that they were wrong.
“We accept that it was a mistake to believe that we were dealing with people willing to build a sustainable future for the company. What they seek is to crush the workers and guarantee management bonuses, without worrying about the medium term. The result was an empty and redundant discourse, maintaining the position of not negotiating anything before 2026, possibly already aligned with three sell-out unions that have been harming workers for years,” says the Union, which, in the face of this, says it has no alternative but to respond with industrial action.
SIMA has already decided: “We will continue to fight!” Stressing that the workers are demanding better working conditions, namely a salary increase, as well as the payment of out of hours overtime.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
