AIMA, the struggling agency for integration, migrations and asylum, has announced four days of strike action next week which will it actually give workers a nine-day break.
Announcing the strike days – which fall around the June 4 national holiday, and take in the June 3 general strike – the Syndicate of Migration Technicians (STM) cited “persistent structural problems that seriously affect workers and the functioning of services”.
The STM board issued its strike notice saying, “the strike will take place on June 1, 2, 3 and 5”. With two weekends on either side, the ‘break’ from the not inconsiderable grind will give AIMA staff nine days away from their work stations.
STM cited issues, including “the increasing degradation of working conditions and the increase in pressure on workers, without corresponding human and technical reinforcement”.
“The inability to respond quickly to regularisation processes, with a direct impact on both workers and foreign citizens” and “concern about the use of ‘outsourcing’ in highly complex technical functions, jeopardising the quality of public service” are other concerns of the union, which laments “the deterioration of AIMA’s institutional image, with negative repercussions on the appreciation and recognition of (its) professionals.”
From the workers’ point of view, says SIC, the government has “not taken effective measures to guarantee dignity, stability and recognition of the roles of migration technicians”. It has also failed to implement promises “assumed in the past”.
STM stresses that it is “available for dialogue, and to construct solutions that respond to the problems identified”. It simply wants a serious negotiation process to open.
Source: SIC Notícias
