Airports in Portugal face a new threat of disruption due to a strike, starting today, of two unions at Menzies – the company that handles ground handling services.
Called by SIMA – Sindicato das Indústrias Metalúrgicas e Afins and STA, the Sindicato dos Transportes, the strike covers various periods between 00:00 today and 24:00 on January 2 – a total of 76 days.
Minimum services have been decreed (by the Court of Arbitration of the Economic and Social Council) much to the frustration of SIMA, which claims “what has been imposed are not minimum services”, as it requires “ensuring around 80% of normal operations”.
SIMA announced the new strike action, which includes the long weekends of Christmas and the New Year, in August, following earlier strikes this summer, which caused some degree of chaos, before being called off following talks at the Ministry of Labour.
Menzies however stresses that there were no agreements reached at those talks (in spite of SIMA’s announcement to the contrary), and its position as employer “remains unchanged”. In other words, there have been no changes to commitments made until 2029, says Menzies.
Confusing as it is, this is the latest strike schedule: the first strike will take place from 00:00 today until 24:00 on September 9, followed by further stoppages from September 12 to 15, 19 to 22 and 26 to 28.
In October, stoppages are scheduled from days 3 to 6, 10 to 13, 17 to 20, 24 to 27 and 31 to November 3. This will be followed by more stoppages from November, 7 to 10, 14 to 17, 21 to 24, 28 to December 1, December 5 to 8, and 12 to 15.
The last ‘stoppage’ (still with minimum services of 80%) is scheduled from December 19 to January 2, 2026.
Source material: Lusa
