The only monument open in the Centro region, operating “at half capacity,” is the Batalha Monastery, according to Orlando Almeida, a union leader for the Federação Nacional dos Sindicatos dos Trabalhadores em Funções Públicas e Sociais (FNSTFPS).
In the North, Almeida reported the closure of the Paço dos Duques de Bragança in Guimarães and the Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis in Porto, among the key facilities overseen by Museus e Monumentos de Portugal (MMP).
In Lisbon, despite a strike, the Museu dos Coches remains open, stated Almeida.
Telephone inquiries to places like the Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis and the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos confirmed closures.
Porters and security staff from 38 national museums, palaces, and monuments, managed by the public entity MMP, resumed their holiday strikes today, organized by FNSTFPS due to governmental inaction on workers’ demands, informed Almeida.
The union leader specified the challenge of determining today’s strike participation rate, given the nature of the sector and roles.
Since Easter in April, holiday strikes within MMP’s domain have closed multiple museums and monuments, including notable sites like the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos in Lisbon, the Fortaleza de Sagres, and Guimarães’ Palácio dos Duques de Bragança.
Earlier this week, Almeida recalled the lack of proposals following a July 15th meeting with the Culture, Youth, and Sports Minister, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, and the MMP board.
“We await a resolution to an issue raised over a year ago,” noted Almeida, mentioning the expectation of a prompt proposal post-meeting, which has yet to materialize.
Contacting MMP for comments yielded no response thus far.
MMP museum, monument, and archaeological site workers demand fair compensation for holiday and additional work hours, as current payments are deemed insufficient despite occasionally exceeding supplemental work time limits.
An FNSTFPS statement from the previous strike day on August 15th highlighted that in 2024, MMP’s 38 venues grossed €21,217,432 from tourists and educational visits, underlining heritage’s cultural importance.
The issue persists without resolution from successive PSD and PS administrations, with or without CDS, per the unions’ previous statements.
Approximately a thousand employees, according to Almeida in April, are employed across 38 national MMP-managed venues, including the Palácio Nacional de Mafra, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Torre de Belém in Lisbon, Convento de Cristo in Tomar, Museu Nacional Grão Vasco in Viseu, and Museu Nacional Frei Manuel do Cenáculo in Évora.
