The union has demanded the immediate suspension of the dismissal process and urged urgent intervention from the competent authorities, specifically the Authority for Working Conditions and the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security (DGERT), to halt this new affront to labor rights.
The communication of the dismissal was reportedly made via a recorded video message from the CEO, Pedro Gomes, during a videoconference.
Condemning the “inhumane and shameful” manner in which the process was conducted, the STT criticized the choice of “impersonal communications, without prior dialogue and completely disregarding the respect owed to professionals who […] established the company’s position as a leader in the contact services sector in Portugal.”
The union stated that “this dismissal, more than an isolated case, reflects the structural weaknesses of labor protection in our country, especially in companies and sectors marked by high levels of precariousness, subcontracting, and turnover.”
They emphasized that “when 240 people can be dismissed in a cold and unilateral manner, without effective guarantees of protection, apart from the right to a pitiful indemnity and paperwork for unemployment benefits, it concerns not only the future of each worker but also the dignity and respect of every worker.”
The STT finds it “unacceptable that a multinational with significant profits and a global presence treats its workers as disposable numbers.”
In this context, the union calls on all unions and the CGTP to organize “resistance and struggle and to create a wave of solidarity with these workers, so that no one is left behind.”
The STT warns of “the lack of labor protection for workers in Portugal and reaffirms the need to defeat the PSD/CDS Government’s labor package, which seeks, among other misconducts, to further disempower workers against dismissals,” the statement concluded.
The National Union of Telecommunications and Audiovisual Workers (Sinttav) announced on Wednesday that Teleperformance will proceed with the collective dismissal of 200 workers as part of an internal restructuring to “control costs.”
In a statement, the union noted that it was informed by the call center company—during a meeting held on Monday at the company’s request—that “the workers initially affected by this decision (about 200) have already begun to be contacted individually.”
Teleperformance attributed the decision to “structural reasons requiring internal restructuring to control costs,” according to the union.
