In a statement, Sintoc reported that it “placed a notice of total strike at work on the 15th, 16th and 17th of April 2022 at the Portway Handling of Portugal [ground handling] company at all national airports where it operates”.

According to the union, the stoppage has three reasons, arguing, to begin with, that the “company does not comply with the payment of holidays, as stipulated in the Company Agreement”.

In addition, according to Sintac, Portway “does not comply with the proper career development as stipulated in the 2016 Company Agreement”.

Finally, said the union structure, the company implemented an evaluation system, in which “90% of the workers obtained a negative grade and without any possibility of appeal, thus making it impossible for these same workers to progress”.

Discrimination

“To make the situation worse, Portway discriminates against workers, even stating in the Ministry of Labour that the supposed assessment is only valid for certain workers affiliated to certain unions”, he underlined, in the same note.

“As it is certain that this strike will affect the normal operation of national airports, Sintoc is available to find solutions aimed at mitigating the points listed above, wanting, however, to be part of the solution and not the problem”.