“The union looks with great concern at the issue of Tupperware workers and we recognize that the workers are currently at an impasse”, Ricardo Rodrigues, from the Union of Workers of Manufacturing Industries, Energy and Environmental Activities of the Center-South, told Lusa.

The Tupperware factory in Portugal, operating since 1980 in Montalvo, Constância (Santarém), depends 100% on the North American matrix, with the announcement of the request for a declaration of insolvency potentially having consequences for the Portuguese unit, which currently has around 200 workers.

“In light of the recent news that the company intends to declare bankruptcy, SITE-CSRA states that the main priority must be to guarantee the maintenance of jobs, improve workers’ rights, increase salaries and end precarious employment, and take measures to guarantee the company's financial stability”, declared Ricardo Rodrigues, who was with the workers at the Tupperware factory.

According to the union leader, “the closure of Tupperware, if it were to happen, would mean a drama for hundreds of workers” and “would be equally disastrous for the municipality of Constância, the region and the country”, having argued that the problem “ must deserve the greatest attention and measures taken by the State and, in particular, the Government”.

“We have to understand specifically what Tupperware’s true intentions are with regard to closing the factory or not”, he highlighted.

Contacted by Lusa, the mayor of Constância said that workers have been living in “distressing uncertainty since September, with no certainty about the future”, and indicated that he would have a conversation scheduled for next week with the director of operations for Europe at Tupperware “ to understand if there are developments” regarding the process.

“Salaries are up to date, there were no layoffs, and today there is no news about the future, and production is stopped and workers go to the factory to do other work, in terms of cleaning and tidying”, declared Sérgio Oliveira.

On September 25, in a statement, the mayor said that the vice-president of Tupperware Europe said he did not know the future of the company, that it was “in the negotiation phase with investors” and “working to create a strategy so that the company can be more attractive".

He further added that he was informed that “they stopped production at Tupperware Portugal, Belgium and South Africa because they have a lot of stock”.

On September 18, Lusa requested written clarification from the company but has not received a response to date.

Tupperware Brands voluntarily initiated Chapter 11 proceedings in Delaware Bankruptcy Court and has reportedly secured the court's approval to continue operating and facilitate a sale process to protect the brand.