Not the right time to travel to Portugal… The traffic of airports from Lisbon and Porto was disrupted with the cancellation of nearly 150 flights scheduled for Friday and Saturday, due to a strike for the salaries of the assistance staff scheduled until Sunday evening, according to the manager of the Portuguese airports (ANA).
Among the twenty companies affected by this social movement within the company Portway, a subsidiary of the airport manager ANA, the low-cost carrier Easyjet was the most affected, with nearly a hundred flights canceled over the first two days of the strike. The movement affected to a lesser extent the airports of Funchal, on the island of Madeira, and Faro, in the tourist region of the Algarve (south).
Wage increase requested
According to the unions, this strike by Portway employees was followed by 90% at Lisbon airport and 85% in Porto. According to the porter’s management, the participation rate was “less than 10%”.
The strikers are calling for “an immediate increase in wages “allowing employees to” regain their purchasing power “, according to a press release from the national union of civil aviation workers (SINTAC), at the origin of the movement.
Union officials notably accuse the company of hindering career progression and of not respecting labor law in terms of public holiday pay.
“Irresponsible” strike
Portway, which employs some 2,500 people, is 100% owned by ANA, a subsidiary of the French group Vinci, which in 2013 obtained the concession for Portuguese airports.
The porter judged in a press release that this strike was “irresponsible” because it comes “at a time of intense activity for aviation and tourism”, one of the main engines of the Portuguese economy.