The Algarve Union of Trade Unions (USAL/CGTP-IN) has called a regional day of action for 7 August in Faro, demanding better living and working conditions, and warning of what it describes as a labour market marked by insecurity, low wages, and a rising cost of living.
The rally is scheduled to begin at 10am outside Faro’s João de Deus Secondary School. According to the union, the initiative aims to demonstrate that “summer cannot be synonymous with exploitation”.
In a statement, USAL/CGTP-IN said the mobilisation follows “the workers’ great victory in defeating the labour package”, arguing that it is necessary to “continue fighting for better living and working conditions”.
The union says the Algarve, whose economy is heavily dependent on tourism and related activities, faces particular challenges in its labour market despite the sector’s strong economic performance.
“Profits in this sector have reached record highs,” USAL/CGTP-IN said, arguing that these results cannot come at the expense of workers, who it says continue to “become poorer on the low wages they earn, compounded by a brutal increase in the cost of living”.
According to the organisation, working conditions in the Algarve remain characterised by “informal employment, unregulated working hours, precarious jobs, seasonal work, and high unemployment outside the summer months”.
USAL/CGTP-IN is therefore calling for a “new direction” for the region and the country, with policies that place greater value on work and improve living standards.
“We need to fight for a more developed and progressive region, where work is valued and people enjoy better quality of life,” the union said, adding that it is necessary to “break with the right-wing policies that have been implemented in our country for decades”.
Among its demands are higher wages and pensions, greater regulation of working hours, increased job security, an adequate public transport network, stronger housing rights, and better-funded public services, with particular emphasis on the National Health Service.
The union also criticised the disparity between the results achieved by major economic groups and the difficulties faced by workers, young people, pensioners, and small business owners.
“While the largest economic groups operating in the country accumulate millions in profits”, particularly in the fuel, retail, energy, telecommunications and banking sectors, “workers, pensioners, young people, and small business owners are facing worsening difficulties,” USAL/CGTP-IN said.
The union is calling on people across the Algarve to take part in the regional day of action, arguing that “united we are stronger and only through collective action can we defend and strengthen our rights”.
Source: Jornal do Algarve
Photo credit: Jéssica Mestre
