Drivers for the public transport company Horários do Funchal, in Madeira, will go ahead with a new strike on September 17 and 18, the National Union of Drivers and Other Workers (SNMOT) announced today.
“The [workers’] session mandated the union to schedule a 48-hour strike for September 17th and 18th, and this strike will continue if one requirement is not met: that wage discrimination at Horários do Funchal be put an end to,” union leader Manuel Oliveira told Lusa news agency.
Today, SNMOT held two workers’ meetings, one with drivers from the private company Siga Rodoeste, and another with professionals from the public company Horários do Funchal.
In the case of Siga Rodoeste, which employs around 80 drivers, the decision was to schedule a meeting for September with the Commercial and Industrial Association of Funchal/Madeira Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACIF/CCIM), which represents businesspeople in the sector, to continue the negotiation process.
Regarding Horários do Funchal, with 350 drivers, the plenary mandated the union to move forward with a new strike in September, with two stoppages already having taken place, one on June 25 and 26, and another on July 20.
In addition to demanding a “salary update correction” of at least 30.65 euros per month and the reopening of the negotiation process to reduce working hours to 35 hours per week, SNMOT demands an end to salary discrimination.
“This is the ‘sine qua non’ condition and then, the other, obviously, is that there is an opening of the negotiation process to discuss the issues that are on the table, namely the reduction of the weekly working hours from 39 to 35 hours, naturally done in a phased manner”, said Manuel Oliveira.
The union leader explained that the wage discrimination stems from an agreement signed between the management of the company Horários do Funchal and another union structure in the sector, the Union of Road Workers and Metallurgical Activities of Madeira (STRAMM), which determined a wage increase of 20 euros in the base salary, with retroactive effect to January 1, 2025, covering not only workers affiliated with this union but also non-unionized workers.
Workers affiliated with the National Union of Drivers and Other Workers were not covered by this increase, and the negotiation process was also marked by some tension between the parties involved, namely the union, the company’s management and the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP), which oversees Horários do Funchal.