Airports strike called off after agreement reached with Menzies, TAP and unions

Unions representing SPdH/Menzies workers (formerly Groundforce) have called off a strike scheduled for December 31 after signing government-backed agreements with the company’s shareholders.

In a joint communiqué, Sitava – the Union of Aviation and Airports Workers, the Union of Baggage Handlers Workers, Aviation and and Airports Workers (STHAA) say they have signed agreements with Menzies and TAP backed by the government that gives guarantees of stability and future to the workers, thereby enabling the strike to be called off.

“Today, after intense negotiations with SPdH/Menzies the immediate negotiation of a new Company Agreement has been reached with priority to the salary scales and other renumeration components in line with the agreement on salaries signed between the government and unions”, state the unions.

The agreement reached with TAP, backed by the government, will ensure “the conditions necessary to ensure the stability of the workers”, adds the unions.

A the start of January, workers’ plenaries will be called to lay out the agreements that have been reached.

The strike was called because of the uncertainty over the future of the workers regarding a competition for the granting of support licences for handling whose preliminary report from the ANAC gave priority to the Clece/South consortium.

In the context of this competition, the government had postponed the current handling licences to at least May 19, 2026.

SPdH employs around 3,700 workers of which 2,070 are directly covered by the competition underway.