Airport handling service Portway have warned of the possibility of constraints at national airports, due to the strike called by the National Civil Aviation Workers Union (SINTAC), for the 26th, 27th and 28th of August.
Portway is responsible for passenger and crew transport, passenger boarding, baggage handling, aircraft loading and unloading, and aircraft pushback and towing, among other things.
SINTAC called for a strike at the ground assistance company, at Lisbon, Porto, Faro and Funchal airports, starting at 00:00 on Friday, August 26th and ending at 24:00 on Sunday, August 28th, against the policy of “confrontation and devaluation of workers through consecutive breaches of the Company Agreement, disciplinary confrontation, absence of salary updates, misrepresentation of performance evaluations that avoid salary progressions and bad faith in negotiations”, it said in a statement.
In the statement sent today, Portway regrets “the inconvenience that this situation may cause to passengers”.
Taking into account the impact that the strike may have on airport operations, the company also advised travellers to confirm their flights with the airlines, before heading to the airports, with references to the airlines affected by the strike being in permanent update at https://www.portway.pt/pt/media/noticias/.
“Portway considers that the call for this strike is an irresponsible act, as the reasons for calling it do not correspond to reality, it compromises the recovery of the sector and the national economy in a period of intense aviation and tourism activity and certainly affects the the company's ability to translate the long-awaited financial recovery into better conditions for workers”, considered the company.
Regarding the reasons given by the union to call the strike, the company stressed that it “complies with all applicable legislation and regulations, including the Company Agreements in force and the labour rights of its workers, which include the right to strike and the right to work in full freedom and conscience”, and recalled that “remuneration updates have been made from the year 2019 to the present date, which represent an increase of 11% in the remuneration of workers”.
Additionally, Portway indicated that holidays are paid with an increase of 150% compared to the hourly rate, complying with “all the rules regarding the payment of holidays”, and stressed that “it privileges safety above all and vehemently rejects any accusation of concessions or operational facilities that may compromise the safety of its customers, passengers and workers”.
Finally, the company appealed for the minimum services for the strike period, decreed by the Government, to be complied with.
Source Lusa
