"Even we were surprised by the level of adhesion we had. Almost 200 workers were outside, in front of the Matosinhos unit, in Arroteia", said Miguel Ângelo, from the Union of Workers of the Processing Industries, Energy and Environmental Activities of the North (SITE-Norte), in statements to the Lusa agency.

He stressed that the strike - of two hours per shift and which takes place today, on Wednesday and on Friday - also covers the Maia unit of Efacec, "from where a bus almost full of workers came".

"It was something that also pleased us very much. For the first time, we had a great adhesion of the staff of Maia, as well as of the units of Engineering and Mobility, a type of workers different from those of Arroteia, who are mainly from the factory floor", he emphasized.

Contacted by the Lusa agency, an official source from Efacec said that the company "will not comment yet" on the protest.

Although admitting that the "great adhesion of the factory floor workers" has compromised the work, Miguel Ângelo said that the objective of a strike like this, of only two hours per shift, "is not to cause an impact in terms of production".

"This strike was a cry of alert, for the workers to show their discontent", he argued.

Regarding the collective dismissal in the company, the leader of Site-Norte says that the official data point to a total of 20 workers from Efacec Engenharia covered: "This is the balance that the union has at the moment, although there are those who say that there will be more. Then, there are the terminations by mutual agreement, and we know that there are many people who have accepted the terminations, but some accept and don't even say anything to anyone", he said.

According to Miguel Ângelo, the union met last week with the Human Resources department of Efacec, to see if the company "presented some conditions to respond to the objectives of the strike".

"If they presented us with a number in terms of salary increase and if they assumed that, during this next year, there would be no intentions of dismissal, instead of the strike we would hold plenary sessions. But, as they did not assume this commitment, we kept the strike, and well, because today the workers gave a good response", said the union leader.

According to him, "at the beginning of the meeting the person in charge of Human Resources gave a word of confidence, mainly in the area of transformers, saying that there is a lot of work", but went on to say that "the new shareholder assumes that there are imbalances in the company and that, therefore, there will probably continue to be restructuring".

In this context, the union maintains the strike, which will be repeated today in the afternoon shift and will continue on Wednesday and Friday.

"After this, we will schedule plenary sessions to hear the workers again", concluded Miguel Ângelo.

The strike at Efacec is presented by Site-Norte as a "cry of alert" in defense of jobs and the strategic importance of the company and also covers all overtime during the current month. The workers demand the negotiation of the claim book, the defense of jobs and the continuity of Efacec as a strategic company.

On the days in question, the workers will be concentrated from 8:30 am to 10:30 am and from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, in front of the company's facilities in Matosinhos.

"This strike approved by the workers is a 'cry of alert' to affirm that they will not remain impassive and serene while the future of the company and their jobs may be at stake", pointed out the union, recalling that the Mutares fund advanced with a collective dismissal at Efacec Engenharia in April.

The State sold the entire Efacec (nationalized in 2020) to the German investment fund Mutares.

Within the scope of the sale, the State agreed to inject 160 million euros into the company and Banco de Fomento finances another 35 million euros, through the purchase of bonds (convertible into capital).

Efacec, which is headquartered in Matosinhos, has around 2,000 employees.

Read Also: Efacec workers start staggered strike of two hours per shift (Portuguese version)