Workers seek “correction of injustices; valorisation of professional experience”
Fiequimetal, the syndical commission representing workers at EDP, is promising a “major day of struggle” next Wednesday, when there is to be a 24-hour strike and sit-in outside EDP’s Lisbon headquarters in Avenida 24 de Julho, “for the correction of injustices and valorisation of professional experience”.
EDP’s close to a billion euros in profits during the first nine months of 2023 are behind this protest.
Publicising the event, left wing online Esquerda.net describes the multinational as a business that has shown ‘record profits and distributed hundreds of millions to shareholders” – leaving workers very much out of the equation.
Says the online: “Fiequimetal highlights the €946 million in profits (…) which represent an increase of 83% on the same period of the previous year, and add to the €1.1 billion in profits obtained in 2021 (…) Shareholders have decided to give themselves more than €1.5 billion in dividends” and for this year “they are preparing another fine meal, in this case €795 million (…) And us, how will we stand in the middle of all this?
“What is our guarantee for the future, namely regarding the valorisation of salaries, careers, annuities, in a company that values itself as a top employer?”
This is the crux of Fiequimetal’s beef: EDP’s workers feel ‘undervalued’ – thus the decision to call a ‘national strike’ (for which buses have been laid on to ferry workers from all corners of the country), as well as a sit-in outside EDP’s main premises in central Lisbon from 11.30am.
The protest falls on the same day police syndicates are due to take their grievances to parliament, thus traffic snarl-ups are expected.
