“These workers … see no increase in their pay slips at the end of the month, and read of record company profits in the newspapers” – Union
Distribution and shop workers in Portugal are on strike on Christmas Eve to demand Sunday and public holiday closures and pay rises, CESP – the Portuguese Trade, Office and Services Workers’ Union – announced on Friday.
“On Christmas Eve, commerce workers will be on strike for higher salaries, decent working conditions and for the negotiation of Collective Work Contracts without loss of rights”, the CESP said in a statement, stressing that job and life insecurity “is the reality” that plagues workers in this sector.
The CESP points out that low salaries, working hours incompatible with personal life, pressure and repression in the workplace are nothing new “for a very large group of those who, not long ago, were essential workers”, “but were never respected or valued”.
With inflation, “particularly affecting essential goods and energy, which has devalued the already low salaries of those who work in commerce, these workers are daily putting their price tags on, but see no increase in their pay slips at the end of the month, and read of record company profits in the newspapers”, the union stresses.
According to the CESP, several demonstrations are planned across the country, including in Braga, in Praça da República (Arcada), at 10 am, in Lisbon, in front of the Bom Dia Continente in Martim Moniz, at 11 am, and in Coimbra, in Praça 8 de Maio, also at 11 am.
Source: Lusa
