The president of Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve, Jorge Botelho, has announced that the mayors of the 16 municipalities in the Algarve have voted unanimously to negotiate with the unions to adopt a 35-hour working week for all council staff.
"All councils in the Algarve understood that the 35-hour week should be the norm," said Botelho after an AMAL meeting where the mayors get together to decide such things.
The new national legislation that increased working hours for civil servants from 35 to 40 hours came into force last September. However, as Jorge Botelho explained, the law states that where there is a collective bargaining agreement with the unions the 35 hour working week can be reintroduced with the full validation of the Secretary of State."
AMAL has decided to negotiate with the unions, and agree that each council brings back the 35-hour working week.
