The Union of Industry, Energy, Services and Water of Portugal (SIEAP) announced that the initial phase of a partial strike will commence on Monday and continue until the 17th, with a second phase scheduled from the 25th to the 31st of this month.
The strike will affect “the last two hours of each shift,” according to the SIEAP.
The union states that the strike is in response to the “intransigence and persistent silence of the management” of PSA, the operator of Terminal XXI at the Port of Sines, and LaborSines, a temporary port labor company, which “continues to ignore the workers’ fair demands.”
Contacted by Lusa today, SIEAP’s secretary-general, Cláudio Santiago, criticized the lack of communication between the management and the workers who “have been trying to reach an agreement” with the company.
The workers “even canceled the overtime strike, one of the issues [the company] raised, so that we could meet and attempt to reach an agreement, but surprisingly the company did not schedule new meetings, citing other reasons,” he said.
“We have been well demonstrated the stance that PSA’s management unfortunately has towards the workers at this moment,” he criticized.
From May 26 to June 6, workers from both companies observed a strike under similar conditions, organized by SIEAP, to demand better working conditions.
The union leader stated that with this new partial strike, during the last two hours of each shift, the workers aim to send “a further signal to the company that things are not right.”
“We scheduled this partial strike to avoid causing a severe financial impact on the workers and avoid disrupting operations by diverting cargo at the largest national port, which would have a tremendous impact on the economy,” he explained.
However, he admitted that if the management maintains its current stance on resuming negotiations during these two weeks, the workers “will have to completely halt operations at Terminal XXI of the Port of Sines.”
“Our intent is always to try to reach a level of dialogue, which is why we provide a one-week interval between the first and second strike periods, allowing the company time to reconsider, mature its ideas, and change its stance,” he warned.
The workers are demanding improvements in working conditions, such as “career progression issues and work hours, which were changed against [their] wishes,” he specified.
According to the SIEAP statement, “the strike will affect all port operations at Terminal XXI of the Port of Sines, involving both permanent and contracted workers.”
Speaking to Lusa, the union leader disclosed that the union is also collecting signatures for a petition to highlight “the workers’ demands,” which may be submitted during the second week of the strike to the management of PSA Sines and LaborSines, the Ports Administration of Sines and Algarve, and the Ministry of Labor.
When contacted by Lusa, PSA Sines has yet to provide comments regarding the strike.
