Lisbon acts on TAP strike
December 18, 2014
The Portuguese government moved Thursday to prevent a four-day strike at the TAP national airline planned for December 27 to 30. It invoked a special Labor Requisition last imposed in the country in 1997.
It would allow Lisbon to sack people - or in some cases bring criminal charges against those on strike.
Portugal's umbrella union UGT described the move as "premature and abusive," as it continued to campaign against privatization plans, which the union said would lead to lower wages and job losses. UGT leaders hinted they would challenge the government order in court.
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The government defended the move in uncompromising language. "This decision will guarantee essential services to safeguard the national public interest," it said in a statement. "It's an exceptional situation that requires this exceptional measure."
It said the planned strike could affect some 120,000 travelers, with around 300 flights slated in the period in question.
Last month, the government announced the relaunch of TAP's privatization, planning to sell a more-than-60-percent stake to one or more large investors. A first attempt to privatize the airline failed in 2012 after the only bidder failed to present financial guarantees in time.
TAP has run up debts to the tune of some 1 billion euros ($1.227 billion).
hg/nz (Reuters, dpa)