Just as it had hoped, the police union’s high-profile airport protests are hitting home. AHRESP, the hoteliers’ association, has appealed for dialogue “before tourism is any further damaged”, and a government minister has ridden into the fray with personal insults aimed at the union’s leader.
In the Algarve, tourism boss Desidério Silva has declared that a police leafleting campaign at Faro airport will have “devastating consequences” for the region’s image.
The outrage began after members of SINAPOL, dressed in day-glow jackets, descended on Madeira airport with 3,000 leaflets translated into five different languages, welcoming people to Portugal, “A land that doesn’t respect police”.
“We just want tourists to know how the government treats us,” SINAPOL leader Armando Ferreira told journalists last week.
The leaflets revealed the “difficulties Portuguese police are undergoing due to austerity and cuts which they believe will affect the way security forces operate”, wrote Público newspaper as it reported on the first of a series of protests planned for different airports.
Protests in the Algarve are not due until June – and predictably tourism bosses fear the worst
Appealing for “good sense”, president of Turismo do Algarve Desidério Silva has said any police protests at Faro airport would “destroy years of work and investment in the image of Portugal and that of the Algarve as one of the safest holiday destinations in the world”.
But holidaymakers passing through Madeira last week did not appear to be unduly damaged by the campaign. Indeed a number showed themselves to be sympathetic.
Union leader Armando Ferreira told Público: “There were even tourists who gave signs of solidarity to our struggle and to the way we have highlighted it.”
The pamphlets exposed the low wages paid to police – “an initial salary of less than €800” – and the 12% cuts to salaries that have come with austerity.
Before the government’s Troika-led crackdown, police enjoyed free medicine and “excellent conditions”, explained the text, but now that has all gone by the board and officers lack motivation which “could be reflected in their work”.
The inference that the country’s security is at risk has enraged Minister for Internal Administration Miguel Macedo, who has always maintained that it is “strategic” for Portugal to be considered safe.
Wasting no time ‘lamenting’ the situation, Macedo resorted to personal insults on Sunday – exposing the fact that union boss Ferreira had done ‘zero police work’ throughout 2013.
The fact that Ferreira suffered serious injuries as a result of a work-related accident was not explained by Macedo and his attacks served only to harden the union boss’ resolve.
“I have become used to being attacked whenever SINAPOL does something that is considered uncomfortable,” he told Lusa news agency. “It is a clear attempt to silence me and SINAPOL.”
Meantime, ACIF, Madeira’s business association, was reported to be considering legal action to stop the SINAPOL protest, which will also target ports and cruise passengers.
Madeira’s regional president Alberto João Jardim was also highly critical of the protests, as was AHRESP, the Portuguese association of hoteliers and restaurateurs, which put out a press release at the weekend calling for dialogue “to preserve higher national interests”.
SINAPOL announced their campaign weeks ago, explaining: “Everything is on the table: demonstrations, symbolic protests, even strikes” to try and force the government’s hand over police pay and conditions.
Although the Constitution of 1976 allows for the freedom to strike, the legalities of police strike action are now being carefully considered.
