Algarve hotel union boss demands employers are fined

The Algarve Hotel Workers Union leader wants the Employment Authority (ACT) to adopt a “more coercive” attitude towards employers who fail to comply with their legal obligations towards workers.

Union boss, Tiago Jacinto, has complained about ACT’s lack of action and handed a formal complaint to the inspectorate in Faro on Tuesday.

Tiago Jacinto says that there is a lack of effective action by ACT in the hotel sector – and that breaches of legal and contractual standards by employers simply are not being dealt with, including no respect for aspects of health and safety at work, working hours and holiday pay rates that are stipulated in the currently applicable collective bargaining agreement.

“We have been asking for ACT’s intervention and, unfortunately, there is no response, or the response that comes is elusive,” commented Jacinto, adding that most complaints are archived, not resolved.

When the dossier of unanswered and archived complaints was delivered to Faro, “they said they were going to analyse the dossier and a complaint was answered following that meeting. However, we have requests going back to January 2017 that, to date, have had no response.”

The Algarve union leader said that, “there is a feeling of impunity for companies. ACT has taken an attitude of awareness rather than taking a coercive stance. If the bosses were assessed and fined, they would think twice before repeating.”