Around three dozen scientific workers gathered on Wednesday outside the Porto Customs building to demand that the government put an end to precarious working conditions in science and integrate them into careers.
The “Science 2024” meeting is taking place at the Porto Customs Office, bringing together researchers, rectors and members of the Government in the field of Higher Education, in particular the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre.
Upon his arrival, the minister was questioned by the protesters, but, without stopping to speak, he simply said: “We are working on it”.
The protest, organized by a group of associations and union structures, aims to put an end to the precariousness of researchers –with grants, fixed-term contracts and other employment relationships–, teachers, managers and scientific communicators.
João Cruz, from Fenprof, told reporters that the aim of this demonstration is “to remind that science in Portugal is made up of the work of 4,000 people, 3,500 with fixed-term contracts, and among them, there are between two and three thousand researchers with fixed-term contracts that end this year and in 2025.”
Source: Observadora
