Road workers demand better working conditions from Benfica council

Urban cleaning workers in Benfica, Lisbon, have been gathered at the door of the Parish Council since 10:00 am, demanding better working conditions and against the lack of responses from the executive, said a union source.

The president of the Lisbon Municipal Workers' Union (STML), Nuno Almeida, told Lusa news agency that Benfica's road workers are demanding the signing of a Public Employer Collective Agreement (ACEP) where permanent supplements are established over a 12-month period, in addition to the addition of three more days of vacation through positive performance evaluation.

“The workers are also asking for compensatory rest for working on a public holiday, the urgent conclusion of the public recruitment competition for staff opened in 2024 and maintenance and structural works at the Rua das Garridas post, which has serious humidity problems”, said Nuno Almeida.

Contacted by Lusa, the president of the Benfica Parish Council, Ricardo Marques (elected by the PS), said that the STML was the only one of three unions that refused to sign the ACEP a year ago and, therefore, it is natural that workers affiliated with this union have fewer benefits.

“We signed an ACEP last year with many benefits for workers and a series of additions. We always told this union that we would only sign an agreement of the same kind because there are no first-class or second-class workers at the Benfica Parish Council. The other unions negotiated, we made concessions, we made concessions, they did too, as is normal in any negotiation process, and an ACEP agreement was reached that was signed by the other two,” he said.

According to Ricardo Marques, the STML said that it “would not sign with the traitors of the UGT”.

“I was always very clear: I would sign the same contract that gave the same benefits and rights to workers who work shoulder to shoulder on the streets. It was very clear to us that this was our red line in the negotiation.

The mayor also said that work was carried out on urban hygiene stations, which now have more materials and equipment.

Ricardo Marques recalled that today the board has 80 workers on the streets, between green spaces and urban hygiene.

“We have been working this whole way with the certainty that we have improved the workers’ conditions and benefits. What the workers are demanding already exists. A council like Benfica, which has 400 workers with services that never close, cannot create an ACEP just for street cleaners,” he stressed.

The mayor said that this is the basis on which he has negotiated with the unions.