The Government of the Azores has today expressed “deep concern” over delayed payments to Portuguese workers at Terceira Island’s Lajes Base asking the Republic to intercede with the United States.
In a statement calling the situation “unprecedented and unacceptable”, the PSD/CDS-PP/PPM regional executive explains that a letter has been sent to Minister of Foreign Affairs Paulo Rangel.
“In the letter sent, (Artur Lima) the vice-president of the (regional) government warns that workers have not yet received the remuneration corresponding to the first days of this month, nor the salary update to which they are entitled,” says the statement.
According to Lima this “violates basic principles of labour justice” and “puts at risk the dignity of workers” covered by the Cooperation and Defence Agreement between Portugal and the United States of America.
“The Portuguese government must intercede with the United States authorities, through diplomatic channels, to ensure that workers are properly compensated and that pending salary adjustments are implemented urgently,” says the regional government.
For Artur Lima, the situation is worthy of “deep concern” as it “directly affects Azorean families and compromises the social and economic stability of Terceira Island.”
The regional government admits that the US administration’s budgetary shutdown may have “temporary impacts,” but stresses “that in similar situations in the past, there has never been any interruption in payments” to workers on Terceira Island.
Thus Paulo Rangel is being urged to seek “formal clarification on the reasons why the Labour Commission and the Permanent Bilateral Commission have not met as scheduled.”
During the budget shutdown, now in its 3rd week, more than 2.3 million federal employees have not received pay—even those who are supposed to continue working, while the US administration is embarking on a mass sacking operation. More than 1.3 million military personnel have been affected in the chaos, albeit efforts are underway to remedy this (US news site NPR reports that “over the weekend President Trump said he “identified funds” to ensure the active military gets paid”).
Portugal and the United States have a Bilateral Defence and Cooperation Agreement allowing Americans to benefit from military facilities at Lajes Base, where over 420 Portuguese civilian personnel work. This agreement was recently put to the test when it was discovered that the US used the base to supply Israel with new fighter jets to continue the war in Gaza, without receiving the necessary permissions from Portugal. Spain had denied the US permission to stop-over on Spanish territory (another reason perhaps why Donald Trump has mooted hitting Spain with new tariffs).
Source: LUSA/ NPR/ Politico.EU
