Workers of Otis Portugal will be going on 24-hour strike on Thursday, in a national protest demanding salary increases and improved conditions.
According to information from the syndicates Fiequimental/ CGTP-IN, workers want a 15% overall salary increase, with a minimum of €150 for all workers, effective from April 1 this year.
The unions are also calling for the daily allowance to be increased to €50, the meal allowance to be raised to €14 (or €20 outside the usual working area), and the introduction of a monthly role-specific allowance of €50 for workers performing the duties of an electromechanic.
According to the trade union, the management’s response – presented in February – was limited to a 2.5% pay rise, which is considered insufficient and ‘far removed from the workers’ proposals.’
As with many strikes of this kind, the workers’ message is that their expertise is not valued, and their freedom to strike is hampered by ‘intimidation’ by the Otis hierarchy.
The strike day will see a rally outside Otis headquarters in Mem Martins (Lisbon), where workers will be pushing for the opening of negotiations.
Otis ‘dedicates itself to the manufacture, maintenance and repair of lifts and escalators’, writes SIC.
Thursday will thus be a day when it might be better to ‘take the stairs’ if you are using a building serviced by an Otis lift.
Source material: SIC Notícias
