As the TAP dispute rolls on with planned strikes over the Christmas and New Year break looking increasingly likely, the 12 separate unions representing TAP workers have received some unexpected but welcome support from Mario Soares, former PM and former President of the Republic.
The unions’ dispute had escalated from gripes over working conditions and rotas to a more dangerous and focused conflict over the government’s plans to sell off the state owed airline.
The strikes called for between 27 and 30 December will cripple the airline and lose it an estimated €30 million in turnover at a time when suitors are running their slide rules over TAP’s finances to see if it is worth putting in an offer for the 2/3rds the government wants to sell of in stage 1 of the privatisation process.
Mário Soares, the old war horse of Portugal’s political battlefield, said today that it would be an "unpatriotic act" to sell off TAP and he expressed total solidarity with the courage of TAP’s workers.
The Government, through Economy Minister Pires de Lima says it is not capable of accepting the TAP Trade Union Forum’s terms and conditions.
In a statement today, de Lima confirmed having received and having responded to a memorandum from the unions, which asked for the suspension of the TAP privatisation process or its members will carry on with the strike.
The government of course will not let strike action deter it in the privatisation process which to its embarrassment already has been delayed since late 2012.
Pires de Lima said last Friday that if the unions cancelled the strike he would set up a working group to work out the area of difficulty that TAP employees had.
This was a weak offer and one that passengers have reacted to with 10,000 seat cancellations or flight alterations registered to date.
Unions and the ministry are at a stalemate with an announcement due today on what is going to happen next, if anything.
There is a break in the ranks though as the national union of cabin staff decided to withdrawn from the 12 union platform as it fdoes not agree with the way things are going.
If the strike goes ahead an estimated 130,000 passengers will be affected and the chances of a new owner bidding top dollar for an airline run for the convenience of the unions are zero.
As for Mario Soares, he commented today that he well understands "the indignation of TAP staff and of the Portuguese people in general, as well as those in Portuguese-speaking countries, and the gravity of the proposed privatisation of TAP."
Soares says that privatisation "is something unpatriotic that is not acceptable."
"Employees of TAP - and rightly so - declared a strike. This is a patriotic strike and so I admire the courage of those who do this when aware of the suffering it will bring to those Portuguese living abroad who want to at least spend Christmas with their families in Portugal.”
Soares' view does not accord with current government policy.
PM Passos Coelho has entered the fray, as Pires de Lima may be proving not to be up to the job, saying last Friday in parliament that there are two paths to the recapitalisation of TAP: its division into two companies, with the consequent collective dismissals, or privatisation.
The Left Bloc chipped in today by condemning the pressure that the Government is using on TAP employees, and that passengers will be far more affected by the privatisation of TAP than by the holiday strike, adding that it was "incomprehensible" that the government is currently pressuring TAP workers who just want to defend the company and the country's economy.
The Left Bloc’s view is that TAP makes a profit, is a strategic company for the national economy and that it should remain in state ownership to maintain the quality of public service, to keep the know-how of workers and to maintain the safety of passengers.
In a statement to reporters, Secretary of State for Transport Sergio Monteiro said today that "the Government deeply regrets" that the TAP unions are not interested "in suspending the strike that will affect many families."
With privatisation plans now advancing well, Monteiro can be certain that the government indeed does regret the unions' stance, as will the taxpayer if TAP is sold off on the cheap as a strike prone, overmanned, inefficient and highly unionised former state airline.
The airline management has apologised to passengers for the problems which it says are "out of its hands," which encapsulates the dysfunctional relationships between the 12 unions, the state and TAP's impotent management.
TAP Contact Centre: 707 205 700
