The Ministry of Finance assured this Tuesday that the “renewal and revitalization” of the Tax and Customs Authority (AT) is a priority for the Government, which since taking office has held “several meetings” with unions representing tax workers .
“The renewal and revitalization of the human capital of the Tax Authority constitutes a priority of this Government, which has also been publicly highlighted on several occasions,” says the ministry Joaquim Miranda Sarmento in a written response sent to the Lusa agency.
In response to the accusations of the Tax Workers Union (STI) that the Treasury does not have “time to listen to the workers”, despite the attempts made by “all means” to dialogue with the minister, The guardianship guarantees that “he has sought, since the date of his inauguration, to become aware of the concerns of the workers of the Tax Authority.”
As highlighted, to this end it has promoted “several meetings with representative union associations, between the months of April and September, with the express indication that said dialogue will be resumed in October.”
The “guaranteed more than 3,500” AT employees who today [terça-feira] They participated, via telematics, in a general assembly promoted by the STI and decided to call a two-day strike, on December 19 and 20, demanding the improvement of their career, better working conditions and a review of the salary scale.
Tax workers on strike on December 19 and 20, says union
In statements to the Lusa agency at the end of the meeting, the president of the union also stated that, “if nothing happens in the meantime,” another strike is also on the table, this time for an indefinite period, for the entire year 2025.
“If nothing happens on the part of the Government, the forms of struggle will be toughened for next year, starting on January 1, 2025,” guaranteed Gonçalo Rodrigues, although assuming the “expectation that the Government has the common sense not to Let things come to an end.” that point.”
Even before the December strike, the STI says that a rally of union delegates at the door of the Ministry of Finance was planned for next week, on the 25th, in an attempt to warn Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento that “let this move forward, but it’s bad.” for the country, it is bad for the Government and that is not the objective” of the union.
“The union tried everything. We were in these six months or seven months of [novo] Government always in good faith, trying to ensure that the Government was also in good faith. We gave this Government time to arrive, deal with the files and understand what was happening. We always act in good faith, but the Government did not act in good faith with us and I have some hope that the Government will change its position,” said Gonçalo Rodrigues.
According to the STI, the “large attendance” of workers at this morning’s meeting, which took place between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., caused “significant limitations in financial services throughout the country,” causing the closure of around 80% of these services.
In the written note now sent to Lusa, the Ministry of Finance specifies that, “according to the information collected by the Tax Authority, the country’s financial services function normally, after the general assembly of workers that took place this morning.”
Source: Observadora
