The three-day strike by Portway workers, which began this Friday, August 26, resulted in the cancellation of 83 flights at Lisbon and Porto airports, according to Lusa accounts based on information from the to place of ANA – Airports of Portugal.

According to the data consulted by Lusa, 30 departures and 23 arrivals in Lisbon and 15 departures and 15 arrivals in Porto were canceled.

Most of the canceled flights come from EasyJet, which announced on Thursday that it had previously decided to cancel some flights in Lisbon and Porto due to the strike, informing its passengers.

There were no cancellations at Faro or Funchal, the other airports targeted by the three-day strike notice, called by the National Union of Civil Aviation Workers (Sintac).

The strike, scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, challenges “HR policy [recursos humanos] assumed in recent years by Portway, a Vinci group company, confrontation and devaluation of workers through subsequent breaches of the Company Agreement, disciplinary confrontation, failure to update wages, false representation of performance evaluations that avoid salary increases and bad faith in negotiations,” the union said.

The notice provides for the general stoppage of ground handling company workers, at the airports of Lisbon, Porto, Faro and Madeira, from 00:00 a.m. on Friday and ending at 24:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Syntac accuses Portway of fostering a “climate of psychological terror, where threats and disciplinary proceedings proliferate, creating social instability unprecedented in the company’s history”, and workers demand compliance with the agreement. company of 2016 and a performance evaluation which only serve to prevent progressions.

Syntac also wants 100% holiday pay for all workers and immediate wage updates, taking into account inflation.

ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal and Portway warned on Thursday of possible disruptions to 22 airlines operating at national airports.

In a note published in its websites the manager of national airports, owned by Vinci, and the ground handling company, of the same group, published a list of “airlines whose flights could be affected by the strike called by a union” in the company of ground handling.

The companies concerned are Aegean, Air Canada, Air Transat, American Airlines, Blue Air, Brussels, Cabo Verde Airlines, Easyjet, Euroatlantic, European Air Transport, Eurowings, Finnair, Flyone, Latam, Luxair, Swiftair, Transavia, Transavia France, Tunisair , Turkish Airlines, Volotea and Wizzair. These companies use Portway’s services, and there is another handling in Portugal, Groundforce.

In a statement Thursday morning, Portway noted the possibility of constraints at domestic airports due to the strike, regretting “the inconvenience this situation will cause to passengers”.

Given the impact that the strike could have on airport operations, the company also advised travelers to confirm their flights with the airlines, before heading to the airports, references to the airlines affected by the strike being continuously updated at https:/ /www.portway.pt/pt/media/noticias/.

The union and Portway failed to reach an agreement on the definition of minimum services for the strike, after a meeting with the Directorate General of Employment and Labor Relations (DGERT).

However, Sintac said he was aware that employees of temporary work companies could be called in, “with almost no experience, which could jeopardize flight safety”. In turn, Portway said he “strongly rejects any accusations of concessions or operational facilitations.”

This week Sintoc also accused the government of issuing an order ‘which violates the right to strike’ of Portway workers who provide assistance to people with reduced mobility at domestic airports and called for the Authority to intervene. for Working Conditions (ACT), ensuring that Portway “compromises” workers’ rights.