EUROPEAN DOCKERS RESOLVE THE CONFLICT IN PORTUGAL

IDC Press release. February 17, 2014
The Portuguese government and employers have agreed to reinstate the 47 dismissed dockworkers and to negotiate a new collective agreement

The mobilisation of European dockers in support of their Portuguese colleagues has paid off, as the Portuguese Government and employers have accepted the main demands of the workers – the reinstatement of the 47 sacked dockworkers at the Port of Lisbon, the end of the recruitment of “alternative" workers, the opening of a bargaining process for the new collective agreement and withdrawal of all fines and penalties imposed on trade unionists who had defended their jobs. For the IDC and European dockers, this is a victory and confirmation that international solidarity can help resolve conflicts that have reached an impasse.

The conflict in Portugal threatened to spread to other countries. On February 4th, information meetings were held to inform all European dockers of the situation in Lisbon, emphasizing that the regularly employed workforce was being attacked with impunity. During these meeting, all ports in solidarity stopped their operations, recalling images of the big port struggles of the past decade, when the extraordinary mobilisation of all European dockers managed to stop two port packages that would have meant the end of the profession.
 

This time, although the conflict was restricted to Portugal, European dockworkers’ organisations, the IDC and the ETF, understood that they had to make common cause with their Portuguese colleagues. For that reason, last Friday, February 14, Jordi Aragunde, IDCE delegate from the port of Barcelona accompanied Antonio Mariano (President of SETC), Joao Raimundo and Paulo Nunes from the Portuguese dockworkers union, to a meeting with Joao Carvalho, president of the Institute for Mobility and Transport Portuguese (IMT) and the employers from the port of Lisbon. At this meeting, a tentative agreement was reached to put an end to the conflict, allowing the reinstatement of the 47 dismissed workers, 18 of them on a permanent contract and 29 as casual workers. In addition, all professional dockworkers employed at the Lisbon pool, AETPL, will enjoy a new training program to enable them to service all ships calling at the port.

An assembly of the dockworkers union in Lisbon gathered this morning, Monday, February 17, and unanimously approved the agreement reached on Friday with massive support from the members. In the afternoon, the union will be holding a press conference with the media to inform the public about all details of the process. This agreement opens a new stage of stability and social peace at the Port of Lisbon and reinforces the union strategy advocated by the IDC in Europe, based on the constant defense of labour rights of all dockworkers, regardless of their country of origin.