The Algarve Hotelaria Union wants the Authority for Working Conditions (ACT) to adopt a “more coercive” posture in relation to employers who do not fulfill their obligations to workers. The union members complain about the lack of action by ACT and delivered, this Tuesday, at the Local Unit of Faro, a complaint addressed to the general inspector of Labour.
Tiago Jacinto, coordinator of the Union of Workers in the Algarve Hotel, Tourism, Restaurant and Similar Industry, says that there is, in the Algarve, in the hotel sector, «a lack of effective action by ACT. We have made several requests, over the last few years, regarding the most varied issues of non-compliance with legal and contractual rules by employers».
According to the union leader, the employer “does not respect working hours, does not comply with collective contracting rules, does not pay for work on holidays and overtime, as stipulated in the collective contract. We have been asking for the intervention of ACT and, unfortunately, either there is no response, or the response is so evasive that we do not understand what was detected».
The information that comes from the complaints filed is that “the cases have been closed. Last year, we asked the Inspector General of Labor for a hearing to expose the various requests we had made. At the time, we left a dossier with a set of requests unanswered, or with an unsatisfactory response. Now, once again, we need to raise this issue. We are also going to inform the Minister of Labor and the parliamentary groups, because we think the situation is serious and cannot remain as it is».
When the dossier was delivered, “they said they were going to analyze it. There were one or two requests that were answered as a result of that meeting. However, we have requests from January 2017 that, to date, have not been answered. We think that too much time has passed».
According to Tiago Jacinto, the situation deserves to be disclosed because the employer “is not complying with the Collective Labor Agreements” and “ACT is not enforcing them. Workers continue to be underpaid on holidays and on days off, and companies do not comply with pay scales. In addition, there are other issues related to the workers' own health. Now, the patronage has seen fit to remove the chairs from the receptionists, forcing them to spend eight hours working standing up, with all the consequences that this brings to people. This violates the most elementary and basic standards in terms of health and safety at work».
For all this, the union considers that “there is a feeling of impunity in companies. ACT adopted an awareness-raising stance rather than a coercive stance. If the boss was booked, he would think twice before repeating», considers Tiago Jacinto.
Also according to Tiago Jacinto, “more than a month ago we filed a request to be assistants in the processes and we still haven't received an answer. There is a lack of action by ACT and workers complain», he concludes.
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