The Algarvian communist deputy Paulo Sá will take the case of wage arrears at Clube Praia da Rocha to the Assembly of the Republic, "questioning the minister with the tutelage of Labour."
Paulo Sá, who this morning was the only parliamentarian from the Algarve present at the demonstration in support of the worker who, since Friday, has been chained to the interior stairs of that tourist complex to demand wage arrears, considered the protest as “an attitude of despair”.
«I've never had wages in arrears, but I imagine that a worker who has wages in arrears, months and months on end, and at a certain point doesn't have the money to put food on the table, nor to pay for water, electricity, gas, arrives at a desperate situation and who, like this lady, come to the company where they owe her wages, to demand what is her basic right. You shouldn't need to chain yourself to demand your wages in arrears», said the deputy, after having managed to enter the building to talk with Marilu Santana, the worker in question.
“It should not be necessary to reach such a situation, workers should receive their wages and compensation as provided for in the law. The problem is that this law is not being enforced and, on the part of the Government, there has been no decisive and diligent intervention in order to enforce the law. The Government should intervene, through the mechanisms at its disposal, namely the ACT, to ensure that employers fulfill their obligations. But unfortunately there is too much permissiveness on the part of the Government, lamented Paulo Sá, in statements to journalists.
This morning, the administrator of Clube Praia da Rocha finally agreed to have a meeting with the coordinator of the Union of Hotel Workers, but did not allow any of the injured workers to participate. However, as I told the Sul Informação the union leader Tiago Jacinto, “didn't make any headway at this meeting. Mr. Paulo Martins simply repeated the arguments he has used before, saying that he cannot pay the workers now because the owners of the apartments that his company manages do not pay him. And he promised again that he will pay in June».
Fed up of promises and given the determination of the worker Marilu Santana not to abandon her protest until she and her colleagues are paid, at the end of this morning there was a demonstration of support in front of the Clube Praia da Rocha reception, promoted by the União de Unions of the Algarve, which brought together about two dozen workers, as well as other people. Two of the opposition councilors of the Portimão Chamber were also present, João Vasconcelos, from the Left Block, and Nelson Freitas, from the CDU.
Holding up posters and banners demanding the payment of salaries, the protesters shouted: "This can't be like that, working without pay."
The administration of Clube Praia da Rocha, faced with the noise of shouted slogans and the music of a sound system, right in front of the complex's reception, asked for the intervention of the PSP, which only asked the protesters to avoid the music.
Meanwhile, Marilu Santana and colleagues remain at the site in protest, for the fourth consecutive day.
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