The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) shift workers’ strike registered between 95% and 100% of members, with aerial surveillance completely paralyzed, according to the union.
In an interview with Lusa, Elisabeth Gonçalves, director of the National Federation of Trade Unions of Public and Social Workers, said that “there are different shifts. at the moment we have a strike commitment of about 95%.”
However, he pointed out that in the case of airports “which are aviation surveillance, from the north and south of the country, almost everyone, 100%” are on strike, he stressed.
“This strike at the airport level is mainly related to the meteorological information that is provided to airports,” he said.
“Workers are on strike, minimum services have not been assigned, but IPMA workers in this area know what they are doing, they have responsibilities, and they provide emergency and natural disasters that may arise in their workplaces. “, he assured.
According to Elisabeth Gonçalves, “At the moment, this strike covers about 120 workers, because it is very localized, the claims are specific to these workers, this is not a strike that covers the entire IPMA,” he explained. .
Lusa has contacted IPMA and is awaiting a response, but on the organization’s website, traditional descriptive forecasts have only been made for the Azores. On the mainland and Madeira it says “no information due to strike”.
The meteorologists also state that “in keeping with IPMA’s mission of serving the public, meteorological observation will not be interrupted. Information to protect life and property will be available.”
Elisabeth Gonçalves clarified that the claims of these shift workers include “paying for normal work during the holidays”, “creating a career as a geophysical and meteorological observer”, “regulating shift work, which also does not exist” and “the issue of hiring more workers for this activity” .
According to the leader of the union, in June the Federation met with the ministers of the sea and fisheries, agreeing on a “new meeting in early July”, which never took place. “We told the workers about the situation and they decided to go on strike,” said Elisabeth Gonçalves.
In the meantime, the government has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday to discuss proposals “that the government has in place to resolve this situation,” the official said.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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