According to Nuno Almeida, a leader of the Lisbon City Workers Union (STML), who gave the news to Lusa, the petition, delivered to the EGEAC Board of Directors on Wednesday, is related to the issue of "salary increase negotiations and their 2024 update".

According to the unionist, the workers made a proposal for a salary update of 150 euros "still at the end of last year", but the EGEAC Board of Directors "took the initiative, before the negotiation process was closed, to update the workers' salaries to the same extent as public administration workers".

"This petition demonstrates the workers' willingness to reaffirm their claim and to convey to the Board of Directors (BoD) that they are not happy with the position taken in recent years by the various BoDs", he added.

According to Nuno Almeida, it is not only this BoD that has taken the initiative to increase workers' salaries in accordance with the Public Service, "in violation of what is enshrined in the collective agreement, in this case, in the Company Agreement that this company has with this union".

For the unionist, it is stated in the Company Agreement that "there must be negotiations between the Board of Directors and the union for the annual review of salaries".

However, in recent years, the various boards of directors have not been complying and have been applying the Public Service update, he said.

According to Nuno Almeida, the amount of 150 euros increase was the "fairest claim" that the workers considered for everyone and to present to the Board of Directors, recalling that, still in the plenary phase last year, these workers "dropped the part of the 15% increase, but they thought that at least 150 euros for all workers was the fairest".

Stating that the BoD has not yet "closed the door" and has not "responded to this claim", the unionist considered that "the 52 euros increase, or 3%, which was applied to public administration and this company's workers is clearly far from the workers' goal given the increase in the cost of living they have had in recent years and continue to have".

Nuno Almeida also added that a request for a meeting with the company's Board of Directors will be formalised "to continue negotiations regarding the salary update, "with the prospect that it could take place in the first week of July", taking into account the city's festivities that are approaching.

The petition was signed by 260 EGEAG workers out of a universe of about 450, according to the unionist.

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