Demonstrations to take place across country
Portugal’s journalists (at least many of those signed up to the national syndicate of journalists) are on strike today, in a protest against low wages in the profession, precariousness and ‘deteriorating working conditions’.
At midnight last night there was no news on State broadcaster Antena 1, or TSF – and dozens of media organisations (click here) have joined the strike in solidarity (meaning they may not have the same reasons for striking, but want to support those whose livelihoods are seen to be ‘at risk’/ compromised).
As of today, the impact to the casual viewer is minimal. Media websites are still accessible online (some not updating content, others reporting as per normal).
According to strike organisers, “many managers, worried about the strike, brought forward the closing days of newspapers, sent out advance invitations to programmes, changed shifts to take care of “probable” strikers, and/ or reinforced them to mitigate the impact of the strike.
“Strikes in the media are not covered by the need for minimum services. Any measures or actions aimed at frustrating the exercise of the right to strike or its effects are illegal. They are unconstitutional. The employer cannot replace striking workers or make other schemes that limit their impact.
“We call on Workers’ Committees and Editorial Boards to speak out if this situation is happening in their newsrooms. We also call on directors and editorial managers to comply with the law. And to remember that, like the comrades on strike, they are also journalists”.
At the time this message was uploaded, there reportedly had been no news on Lusa’s pages since midnight – and the situation remains unchanged as we write this text.
Sites like SIC Notícias/ Expresso however have continued to lodge reports, thus there is no danger of people ‘not knowing what is going on’.
As SIC’s report explains, “in addition to their labour demands, Portuguese journalists say they have been let down. In the European Union, Portugal is one of the countries with the least per capita support for the media, the president of the Journalists’ Union said two days ago”.
Journalists are demanding, for example, pay rises higher than inflation, a guarantee of a decent salary on entering the profession and career progression, payment of supplements for shift work and exemption from working hours, payment for overtime, night work and work on weekends and public holidays, “scrupulous” compliance with the Labour Code and the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
They are also calling for “human and material” conditions for practicing the profession, “fair pay” for those doing compulsory internships and the financial sustainability of journalism.
“A journalist who can’t pay his bills or have a minimum of job stability is a journalist who is constrained in the exercise of his work,” says the Union.
Demonstrations across the country
Journalists are taking to the streets across the country. They gathered in Coimbra early this morning. They are due to protest in Porto at noon, as well as in Ponta Delgada, the Azores. A protest in Lisbon will start at 6pm today at Largo Camões.
The union says it expects a “very strong turnout” for the strike, which it says is a “wake-up call”.
“There comes a time when we have to put our foot down. That moment has arrived.
The Journalists’ Union considers it “regrettable” that, on the 50th anniversary of April 25, a “fundamental pillar of democracy is under such threat”. For the union’s president, precarious journalism “is not free journalism”.
In the forty years since the last journalists’ strike, the sector has “lost rights, space and autonomy”, says Luís Filipe Simões.
“There comes a time when we have to put our foot down. That moment has arrived. It’s here and now. On March 14, we will stop.”
Various Portuguese language outlets in the Algarve have joined the strike, and there is a protest planned in Faro later today.
