The control of the Portuguese borders is being ensured by the workers of the Tax and Customs Authority (TA) with minimum services, due to lack of personnel, forcing uninterrupted work, the Tax Workers Union (STI) denounced on Tuesday.
To the shortage of personnel, often denounced by the STI, is now added the vacation period, which coincides with the increase in movements at the borders, with situations, especially at airports, of one or two employees to control hundreds of passengers in Portugal”, says the union in a released statement.
The workers’ representatives say that border, land, sea and airport control is in the minimum services, and that this is lead to worker burnout who, “in many cases, do not even take breaks”, that is, for meals, because they have no one to replace them, and looking forced to uninterrupted work.
The STI again warns of this situation, in which the State even calls into question the exercise of its own sovereignty”, he adds, recalling that this shortage of personnel is currently also being felt, urgently, at the Portuguese borders with inspections which are often almost non-existent, “encouraging all kinds of illegalities and, ultimately, endangering national security.”
The union considers that the lack of personnel will worsen in the next four or five years, with the transition to retirement “of a substantial part” of the workers of the Tax and Customs Authority, also warning of what it considers “mishandling” of existing resources.
The opening of the contest for the hiring of 180 inspectors for the TA, published in February of this year, will not solve the problem of lack of employees according to the STI, which considers that the vacancies will be “all” destined to fill positions in the Headquarters services of AT in Lisbon.
Whether in customs or tax services, the union says that the lack of personnel and the management of resources are “dramatic” and that short-term prospects are “catastrophic”accusing the government of an apparent apathy in the face of the need for a reorganization plan for the AT.
The current state of affairs within the TA is a threat to the functioning of the country!”, defends the STI, which urgently calls for “serious measures to avoid the collapse” of the TA and prevent the lack of personnel at the borders from putting at risk at risk causes national security.
Source: Observadora
