“Today’s strike has had a smaller impact than the previous one, with less than half the participation seen last time,” stated João Santos, director at European Seafood Investments Portugal (ESIP), in a statement.
Santos noted that in the first shift of the day, 12% of workers participated in the strike, with an average adherence of 7% throughout the day’s various shifts.
The SINTAB – Union of Workers in Agriculture and the Food, Beverages and Tobacco Industries of Portugal, which organized the strike, did not release any participation figures.
Workers are demanding a 15% salary increase or a minimum increase of 150 euros, a reduction in the working week from 40 to 35 hours, the implementation of seniority benefits, and an increase in holiday days from 22 to 25, according to SINTAB leader Mariana Rocha.
The workers continue to push for renegotiation of the collective labor agreement (CTT), which they claim has not been revised since 2017.
Rocha explained that although each worker is scheduled for an eight-hour day, “the current CTT indicates a working period from 07:00 to 20:00, but the company does not adhere to it,” instead managing shifts and refusing to apply any salary increases unless workers agree to extend the shift hours from “06:00 to 22:00.”
“In a factory predominantly consisting of women, it’s very destabilizing, and workers are unwilling to lose this right and are not willing to accept extending the work day because they want to reduce it, not increase it,” she added.
When approached, the company director said that the administration is “quite receptive” to the workers’ demands, pointing them to ongoing negotiations on revising the CTT, which the unions and the National Association of Fish Cannery Owners have been conducting for three years, with the Ministry of Labor mediating.
João Santos expressed support for revising the CTT, arguing that it “is not adapted to current labor realities and contains outdated points,” noting that it does not account for shifts after 20:00, despite night shifts being better compensated.
“This reduces our competitiveness compared to other foreign economies,” he explained.
ESIP, the largest fish canning factory in Peniche, located in the district of Leiria, and one of the largest in Portugal, employs around 800 workers.
