Portugal - PO workers to strike against salary slashes

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Post office workers to strike against salary slashes

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Workers from Portugal’s postal distribution centres are to hold a five-day strike at the end of this month to protest against a reduction in their salaries caused by an alteration of work timetables.

From April 26th to the end of the month “dozens” of distribution centre employees are to stage industrial action, the sector’s union confirmed this week.

Further labour action for all CTT workers has been scheduled for April 27th in response to the freezing of public workers’ salaries, which was announced by the Government this year.

In comments to Lusa News Agency, Eduardo Rita, of the National Union for Post Office and Telecommunications Workers (SNTCT), said that a reduction in monthly earnings was the result of a loss of ‘inconvenient hours’, night and breakfast benefits. In some cases these can total up to an extra €270 per month.

This has all been caused by an alteration to workers’ schedules following a handover of post-sorting to CTT’s Mailtec group, which, allegedly, enlists temporary workers.

The union claims that the handover will allow Mailtec to “reduce many hundreds of jobs in the CDP distribution centres”.

The director of CTTs Human Resources has denied any connection between the handover of the sorting process to Mailtec and the retraction of subsidies, saying “there are no jobs at risk and no plans for lay-offs or early retirements”.