The news in Portuguese
O Metro de Lisboa começará a funcionar às 10:30 nos dias 3 e 10 de dezembro devido a uma greve de trabalhadores. Normalmente, o metro abre às 6:30 e tem quatro linhas. A greve acontece porque os trabalhadores querem pagamento justo para horas extras e feriados . A empresa está a negociar com os sindicatos.
Translation
The Lisbon Metro will start operating at 10:30 a.m. on the 3rd and 10th of December due to a workers' strike. Normally, the metro opens at 6:30 a.m. and has four lines. The strike is occurring because employees are demanding fair pay for overtime and public holidays. The company is in negotiations with the unions.
Exercise: Text comprehension
Question 1: At what time will the Lisbon Metro open on December 3rd and 10th?
The Lisbon Metro will open at 10:30 on December 3rd and 10th.
Question 2: Why are the workers going on strike?
The workers are going on strike for fair payment for overtime and holidays.
Exercise: Vocabulary
Read the full story
▌02/12/2024
The Lisbon Metro has announced that services will start at 10:30 AM on the 3rd and 10th of December due to a planned strike by workers. The strikes are set to occur between the hours of 5:00 AM and 10:00 AM, as confirmed by the company on Sunday.
Typically, the metro operates from 6:30 AM to 1:00 AM across its four lines: Yellow (Rato-Odivelas), Green (Telheiras-Cais do Sodré), Blue (Reboleira-Santa Apolónia), and Red (Aeroporto-São Sebastião). However, the planned work stoppages will delay the start of operations until mid-morning.
Lisbon Metro Strikes to Impact Services in December (Illustration)
The strike is driven by workers' demands for the payment of what are referred to as 'variables'—which include overtime and holiday pay—and the enforcement of existing company agreements. Earlier strikes on the 6th and 14th of November saw significant participation, with approximately 90% of workers adhering to the strike, leading to delayed openings of metro stations.
The Lisbon Metro is committed to maintaining dialogue with worker unions, with hopes of reaching an agreement that could potentially avert the strikes. Union representatives have indicated that partial strike actions may be withdrawn if their demands are met.
In recent discussions, Sara Gligó from the Federation of Transport and Communications Unions (Fectrans) highlighted that the company had previously committed to paying the variables for 2023 and 2024, a commitment which, according to the unions, has not yet been fulfilled. In response, the Lisbon Metro claims that all due remunerations have been paid, including those for extra work and rest days, asserting that there are no outstanding payments or debts to employees.
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