A CGTP and UGT have scheduled a general strike for December 11, in response to the draft labor law reform presented by the Government.
The minutes published by the Directorate-General for Employment and Labor Relations (DGERT) show that the ICD and Fiequimetal — the Inter-Union Federation of Metallurgical, Chemical, Electrical, Pharmaceutical, Cellulose, Paper, Graphic, Press, Energy, and Mines Industries, discussed the provisions for minimum services. This was prompted by a request from Galp to ensure supply at Lisbon Airport, where it employs 13 workers per shift, and at the Azores airports on the islands of Lajes and Santa Maria, with two and four employees respectively.
Galp also operates at Beja airport, where two workers are employed.
The proposal from Fiequimetal, accepted by the ICD, sets out two workers per shift for Lisbon airport, one for Lajes airport, and another for Santa Maria.
The trade union federation justified its decision by stating that there is not just one company ensuring supply at Lisbon Airport.
Additionally, it emphasized that minimum services must correspond to the flights also defined as minimum services.
Iberlim and the STFCMM — the Union of Fluvial, Coastal, and Merchant Marine Workers agreed to ensure the “strictly necessary services” to comply with the minimum services decreed by the arbitration court.
Nonetheless, no agreement was reached on the minimum services definition at Transtejo Soflusa.
The union argued that setting minimum services limits the free exercise of the right to strike.
Following the announcement of the general strike, the Ministry of Labor presented UGT with a new proposal, including some alterations to the draft presented in July, which the trade union deemed “very little” to halt the strike.
The document indicates Government concessions in areas such as simplifying dismissals in medium-sized companies or reducing the mandatory training hours in micro-enterprises. It opens up the possibility of restoring three days of holiday linked to attendance, which were abolished during the ‘troika’ period, among others. However, it retains some measures heavily criticized by trade unions, such as the return of the individual working hours bank or the repeal of the provision restricting ‘outsourcing’ in case of dismissal.
The Government has reiterated that this strike is “inopportune” and politically motivated.
