The PSA Sines has reaffirmed its strong commitment to transparency, good-faith negotiations, and open communication with all stakeholders, particularly employees and their representatives, as stated by the company in an email response to questions posed by Lusa.
The ongoing issue involves a partial strike, targeting the last two hours of each shift, by workers of PSA Sines and LaborSines, initiated by the Sindicato das Indústrias, Energia, Serviços e Águas de Portugal (SIEAP). This industrial action commenced on Monday and is set to continue until June 6.
In a statement released on Monday, the union justified the strike as a reaction to the lack of respect and serious dialogue from the management of PSA Sines and LaborSines.
The company, which operates the country’s largest container terminal, assured Lusa of its commitment “with consistency, honesty, [and] respect” in the negotiation process, aiming “to achieve outcomes that meet the expectations of both parties.”
Since the beginning of the negotiation process, five meetings have been held with the social partner, where timely updates were provided and relevant business knowledge, market conditions, and the competitive scenario were shared openly and constructively, the company emphasized.
For Carla Niza, the Director of Human Resources at PSA Sines, quoted in the responses sent to Lusa, the discussions with the union “have always been conducted with integrity and a sincere intention to find common ground.”
“We remain open and committed to continuing negotiations in a spirit of collaboration,” she added.
On Monday, Ricardo Raposo, leader of SIEAP, assured Lusa that workers proceeded with the strike “because the management of PSA Sines and LaborSines have systematically ignored the claims and proposals” presented.
Among the primary demands are “the change of working hours” and “the reinstatement of the birthday day,” he noted.
“Currently, we are working six months of winter and six months of summer, with a huge workload in the summer causing significant discontent, exhaustion, and severely limiting workers’ family time,” he explained.
With this strike, workers are demanding “a consistent schedule throughout the year,” with “a day of overlap where two shifts work,” which would enable “quality of life,” the leader indicated.
Subsequently, after the strike began, SIEAP informed Lusa that a meeting was scheduled for Thursday with the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing and the State Secretaries of Economy and the Sea in Lisbon.
