“At issue is the HR [human resources] policy adopted over the last few years by Portway, a company owned by the VINCI Group, of confrontation and devaluation of workers through consecutive breaches of the Company Agreement, disciplinary confrontation, lack of salary updates, misrepresentation of performance appraisals that prevent salary progressions and bad faith in negotiations,” the union said in a statement.

The notice foresees the general stoppage of workers of the ground assistance company, at Lisbon, Porto, Faro and Funchal airports, starting at 00:00 on August 26 and ending at 24:00 on August 28.

SINTAC also accuses the company of promoting a “climate of psychological terror, where threats proliferate and disciplinary proceedings are instituted, creating social instability unparalleled in the company's history”.

According to the union, “the company persists that the assessments carried out in 2019 and 2020 are still valid, having consequently blocked career progression for about 90% of its workers”.