The League of Portuguese Firefighters warned today, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the association in this sector, that it is essential to create a career for firefighters, stressing that this is a “very serious gap that has existed for more than 17 years”.
“The League is 120 years old. We are going to use this date to draw the attention of all the country’s politicians to the absolute indispensability of creating a career and a remuneration statute for firefighters (…) who have an employment contract and which, to date, has not been possible, despite the fact that, since 2007, there has been an intention for a law,” António Nunes, president of the League of Portuguese Firefighters (LBP), told the Lusa news agency.
On April 17, 1904, the first Firemen’s Federation was founded by a group of firemen commanders from various parts of the country, which later gave rise to the Portuguese Firemen’s League.
Today, the LBP intends to “draw attention” to the government and municipalities, asking for the publication of a “legal instrument” that allows firefighters to have the “dignity that any worker should have”.
António Nunes said that “the lack of careers means that there is no retention” of firefighters.
“If there’s a company or a service looking for a workforce that pays more, naturally the firefighters will stay on as volunteers, but they won’t ensure daytime service, which is what we’re interested in,” he said, noting that rescue missions, such as the daily transport of patients, could be compromised.
Calling for brevity and consideration, the president of the LBP warned that “it’s best to resolve matters now”, because “there may come a time when someone has to take more drastic action to resolve them”.
“It’s always been like that. When there’s a problem, there’s no point in thinking that the problem will go away. If that problem doesn’t exist, or when it does, sooner or later it’s going to be on the table. And right now, firefighters are starting to get overwhelmed. And so it’s better to solve this problem in advance before there’s a bigger problem,” he said.
However, António Nunes said he is convinced that there will be a dialog with the LBP “in order to find a mechanism that satisfies the firefighters”, noting that a meeting with the government has already been requested, but there has been no response yet.
“It’s normal that a little more time is needed. We’ll give it some more time and then we’ll see. (…) From now on, everyone knows about the problem. So, together, we have an obligation to solve it,” he said.
The LBP president added that “action will be taken” if there is no response “in 15 days or three weeks”.
The celebrations for the 120th anniversary of the founding of the Federation of Portuguese Firefighters will be presided over by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Margarida Blasco, at 3:45 p.m. at the LBP headquarters in Lisbon.
