Six thousand signatures, two thousand more than the minimum needed to trigger a parliamentary debate, have been collected in a protest against the proposed privatisation of Portugal’s national airline, TAP.
The signatories express their "total disagreement" with the current sale process and call for the "maintenance of TAP Group in the public sector."
The petition gathered by the TAP Workers Committee, today was handed in to the President of Parliament, Assunção Esteves.
The petitioners have expressed their "united disagreement with the announced privatisation of TAP” and think the airline would be better controlled by the state appointed management so as to “defend and develop this strategic sector for the economy and national interest.”
The signatories point out that the privatisation of TAP will not solve any national problem and may in fact create one in the national air transport sector.
According to the manifesto, the air transport sector accounts for more than 20,000 jobs, more than €2 billion a year in exports and contributes to "more than 3% of GDP."
The workers consider that TAP "must be defended as a strategically important flagship company for the economy, as a connection to Portuguese communities, for the cohesion of the country’s tourism and for the projection of Portugal in the world."
The workers see privatisation as a prelude to disaster and the destruction of the company but if still under state control, "the national airline has a future and will play a key role in the development of the country."
The Government re-launched the TAP privatisation process in November 2014 after an embarrassing 2 year hiatus and aims to sell 66% of TAP’s shares enabling the government to say publically that it still has a degree of control over the airline’s future.
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