150 flights canceled due to strike at baggage handler

Airport traffic Lisbon and Porto was disrupted with the cancellation of nearly 150 flights scheduled for Friday and Saturday, due to a strike over the salaries of support staff scheduled until Sunday evening, according to the manager of Portuguese airports (ANA).

Among the twenty companies affected by this social movement within the company Portway, a subsidiary of the airport manager ANA, the carrier to low cost Easyjet was the most affected, with nearly a hundred flights canceled over the first two days of the strike.

A strike followed by 90% at Lisbon airport

The movement affected to a lesser extent the airports of Funchal, on the island of Madeira, and Faro, in the tourist region of the Algarve (south). According to the unions, this strike by Portway employees was followed by 90% at Lisbon airport and 85% in Porto. According to the porter’s management, the participation rate was “less than 10%“. The strikers demandan immediate salary increase» allowing employees to «regain their purchasing power“, According to a press release from the national union of civil aviation workers (SINTAC), at the origin of the movement.

Union officials notably accuse the company of hindering career progression and of not respecting labor law in terms of public holiday pay. Portway, which employs some 2,500 people, is 100% owned by ANA, a subsidiary of the French group Vinci, which in 2013 obtained the concession for Portuguese airports. The porter ruled in a statement that this strike was “irresponsible“because she intervenes”at a time of intense activity for aviation and tourism“, one of the main drivers of theportuguese economy.