"We do not want slave labor at the Port of Lisbon," said the union leader Antonio Mariano, who admits prolong a dockworkers strike until December 11. The Operators Association of the Port of Lisbon believes that this strike is "irrational."

"We do not want slave labor at the Port of Lisbon," said the union leader Antonio Mariano, who admits prolong a dockworkers strike until December 11. The Operators Association of the Port of Lisbon believes that this strike is "irrational."
http://expresso.sapo.pt/economia/2015-11-23-Estivadores-de-Lisboa-voltam...

The longshoremen at the Port of Lisbon did not give the "war" finalized. The collective memory is not long and easily lose if it day-count strike that has affected the port activity of Lisbon in 2012 and 2013. The balance of who wins and who loses, industry entrepreneurs say they have been injured in " many millions, "but no one has exact figures, reliable, about the loss of value that national activity suffered because of strikes at the stowage of the Port of Lisbon.

The side of the dock workers, say they do not accept "slave labor in Lisbon," In the words of the president of the Union of Dockers traffic and Lecturers Maritime Center and South of Portugal, Antonio Mariano, "a form of struggle started November 14" It shows that "the dockers of Lisbon does not want them aconreça the same as in Aveiro, in which all effective have been replaced by precarious". "We do not accept work for 500 euros per month even in fully deregulated situations," says Antonio Mariano.

Even after retalório the International Labour Organization (ILO) have produced an extensive report, no significant objections to the employment changes that were promoted by former Secretary of State for Transport, Sergio Monteiro, the head of the union stevedoring who coordinates the "action struggle "in the Port of Lisbon ensures that" the assessment of the ILO is not complete: there is still much information to be reviewed, because they only worked on the basis of elements provided to them by the Portuguese government. "

For business people working with the Port of Lisbon, which import and export their products, the "reasonableness" of this "action fight" is incomprehensible. While there was a prediction that the protest action will be extendable to December 4 - which is shaped like a strike, but retains the stevedores available for work - Antonio Mariano already admits that this protest is extendable until 11 December. In memory of the port sector operators is still the year 2012, where strikes were being prolonged throughout the second half. And after that still he followed a month of strikes in 2013.

The Operators Association of the Port of Lisbon has publicly stated that this strike is "irrational." Stevedores want to recover the collective bargaining agreement, after the law was changed - voted for by the CDS-PP. by PSD and the PS - and the ILO has decided on this process without radical objections. All other ports follow the new labor framework. But the dockers of Lisbon does not conform with the changes.

Internationally, for companies that are far from the Portuguese reality, the image of the Port of Lisbon returns to be affected, and the normalization of port activity - the regaining of confidence - never do in a week, a month, or even in half year. International operators have no time to lose. If a port does not solve their problems, loading and unloading, try another port to do so.

Antonio Mariano does not deny that evidence. "But there are vested interests who want this to happen in Lisbon, to benefit the development of the activity in other ports," he says, ensuring that "will not be because of this that we will accept wages of 500 euros per month".

The union rejects the idea that a "light work renegotiation of the collective agreement inevitably lead to collective redundancies of permanent workers, which will be gradually replaced by precarious workers that have to be subject to very low wages." "If you do not understand this in a quiet negotiations unfortunately we will have no choice but to explain to them what is happening on our side with the use of extension of strikes until they have understood what is our feeling," said António Mariano.

The effect of this situation at the Port of Lisbon, exacerbates the negative international image that has maintained due to the strikes of 2012 and 2013 where close to 40% of the cargo handled was transferred to other ports, according to assessments made in the sector.

The Trade Union of Dockers, Employees and Lecturers Maritime Traffic Centre and South of Portugal now denounced the rupture of the negotiation of collective labor contracts by their employers. The question that now remains open is whether the ILO maintains the view expressed in the previous evaluation, in which validated the changes made labor

"After a week on the start of forms of struggle declared to the port of Lisbon on the 14th of November we can say that the first major conclusion to be drawn from the events that have occurred in recent days is that the port activity Lisbon descended into an authentic and widespread chaos because, as this union always warned, this would be the consequence of unilateral employer statement the expiry of the collective agreement in force, when we all knew the need for such regulatory instrument of immense specifics of work in ports " , according to a statement signed by Antonio Mariano.

The union says that "during the period of strike, the dockworkers were always available to work because, so far, has not yet found any of the conditions announced in the notice of strike to determine the total shutdown of operations, including the attempted replace the professional dockers by hand labor alternative that some employers continue to recruit behind the scenes. "