Government is available to negotiate with CP workers

João Galamba considered that "there is always full availability on the part of the government to meet and solve the problems that arise".

To journalists, as part of a visit to the port of Ponta Delgada, as part of his two-day trip to the Azores, João Galamba assured that "it is always in the interest of all parties that if the strikes can be avoided, they must be avoided”.

“We will always work to avoid strikes,” he stressed.

Today, CP - Comboios de Portugal has already warned of "serious disruptions" in traffic, between February 8 and 17, in all services, due to strikes called by several unions.

“We inform you that due to strikes, called by the National Union of Portuguese Railway Drivers (SMAQ), the National Union of Railway Sector Workers (SNTSF) and the Sindicato Ferroviário da Revisão Comercial Itinerante (SFRCI), for the period between At 00:00 a.m. on February 8, 2023 and 24:00 a.m. on February 21, 2023, there will be severe traffic disruptions, in all services, between February 8 and February 17, “communicated CP, in a note published on 'place' it.

The company also indicated that the information will be updated, if minimum services are defined by the arbitral tribunal.

According to the unions, what is in question is the lack of response from the two companies to the salary increase proposals. For them, the proposals submitted "fall far short" of the values ​​necessary to restore the purchasing power of workers.

Today, the Minister, on the other hand, indicated that the accounts of TAP - the sole responsibility of the company, he recalled - "will be presented in March, according to the normal timetable", adding that "he has already been made public that the results are well above expectations" and "they are about two years ahead of the restructuring plan".

João Galamba said that the good results "are due, above all, to a very expressive increase in TAP's commercial activity, ticket sales, revenues and not so much in costs, which is a good sign", going to "move rapidly towards privatization".

Galamba noted that "the Government does not want to believe that there are politicians who have an interest other than that, that everything is fine" with TAP.

The minister, meanwhile, left a message to the government of the Azores that the green and digital space "is a great bet for the European Union and the country" which "has application in a number of areas and a strong application in ports", also constituting an "opportunity for the Autonomous Region of the Azores".

JME (MEP/PE) // MSF