Airport workers call strike on Christmas and New Years
Workers at Portway, the ground handling company at Portuguese airports, have called a strike over the Christmas and New Year period.
What?
Workers at handling company Portway, which provides ground handling services at airports, have called a 24-hour strike on December 24 and 31 as well as overtime strikes from December 24 through January 2, which will likely cause significant disruptions to baggage processing.
The handling company Portway and the unions failed to reach an agreement at a meeting held on Tuesday.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Portway said that it was “holding back on its official position because it hoped that the unions would review their stance and call off the strike”, which did not happen.
In a statement also published on Wednesday, the Democratic Union of Airport and Aviation Workers (Sindav), the Union of Airport Handling Technicians (STHAA), the Union of Handling, Aviation and Airport Workers (Sitava) and the Union of Workers in the Merchant Navy, Travel Agencies, Freight Forwarders and Fisheries (Simamevip) accused the company of “dishonesty and bad faith”.
Following the meeting at the Ministry of Labour, Portway said that it had “scrupulously applied the agreement signed with the unions representing the workers” and had “increased the salary scales by 4%”.
Details
The strike has been called by the Democratic Union of Workers in Airports and Aviation (Sindav), Union of Airport Handling Technicians (STHAA), Union of Workers in Handling, Aviation and Airports (Sitava) and Union of Merchant Marine Workers, Travel Agencies, Freight Forwarding and Fisheries (Simamevip).
In the strike notice, they indicated that on November 8 they requested “the opening of a conciliation process with the services of DGERT/Ministry of Labour, which unfortunately could only be scheduled for December 18”, for reasons that are said to be “extraneous”.
Faced with this situation, “there was no other alternative than to issue this advance notice of strike”. According to the same note, the strike covers all overtime, starting at midnight on December 24, 2024 and until midnight on January 1, 2025.
The strike will also take place from 00:00 hours on December 24, 2024 until 24:00 hours on the same day and from 00:00 hours on December 31st until 24 hours on this last day of the year. The strike will also cover “work on a public holiday that is a normal working day”, from December 24, 2024, until January 2, 2025.
The strike will also cover all overtime work from 00:00 hours on December 24, 2024, until 24:00 on the same day, and from 00:00 hours on December 31 until 24:00 on the last day of the year. The stoppage will also cover “work on holidays that are regular workdays,” from December 24, 2024, until January 2, 2025.
“We remind that this raise, which Portway is now refusing to implement, has practical effects on the current base salary of workers, but also on all the components associated with it: shift allowances, holiday pay, overtime, vacation and Christmas bonuses, and it will also have future impacts, because the 2025 negotiation base must be the table published in November," they assured.