The Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing, and Employment reaffirmed on Friday the Azores Government’s “firm commitment” to “continue strengthening extrajudicial mechanisms for resolving labor disputes,” such as the Regional Labor Conciliation and Arbitration Service (SERCAT).
During the opening of the seminar “Extrajudicial Resolution of Labor Disputes in the Azores,” held in Ponta Delgada, Maria João Carreiro stated that this work involves institutional support, “raising awareness among employers and workers of the advantages of conciliation, and constantly improving the legal framework that supports these processes.”
“This is an effort that requires everyone’s involvement, and I therefore call on companies and trade unions to continue to believe in dialogue as the first resort and on legal professionals to recommend and facilitate mediation whenever possible,” she said.
The minister insisted that “only with everyone’s contribution can we build a fairer, more collaborative, and sustainable working environment,” given that extrajudicial labor dispute mechanisms are, by their nature, close, accessible, efficient, and humane.
“Extrajudicial dispute resolution methods allow for faster, less costly solutions that are often better suited to the specificities of each case, often preserving the relationship of trust between the parties involved,” she said.
Maria João Carreiro recalled that “labor disputes directly affect people’s lives, business productivity, and social peace” and that “when a dispute between an employer and an employee drags on in the courts for years, everyone loses: the worker loses, seeing their rights suspended; the employer loses, living in uncertainty; and society loses, bearing the costs and delays of the judicial system.”
Created 36 years ago, SERCAT operates within the Regional Secretariat for Youth, Housing, and Employment—Regional Directorate for Professional Qualification and Employment—to serve precisely as an alternative means of labor dispute resolution. It facilitates dialogue between Azorean workers and employers and creates avenues for understanding where previously there were only barriers.
Since its creation, more than 12,300 conciliation proceedings have been carried out, achieving an overall success rate of 61%, as presented by Susana Martins, Director of Labor Services, in her communication “SERCAT – More than 35 years of conciliation.”
Thanks to these agreements, more than €8.7 million has been negotiated, reflecting the real impact of this service on the lives of Azorean workers and employers.
“Each agreement reached outside the courts represents not only one less court case but, above all, a worker and an employer who have found a consensual solution, quickly and with dignity,” said Maria João Carreiro.
The round table discussion on “Extrajudicial conflict resolution” was moderated by Renato Medeiros, Regional Director of Professional Qualification and Employment, and featured José de Araújo Barros, Arbitrator at CIMARA; Carlos Câmara, Presiding Arbitrator of the CESA Arbitration Court; Maria José Araújo, Chair of the SERCAT Conciliation and Arbitration Commission in Horta; and Nuno Vicente, Public Prosecutor – Sector Coordinator for Labor Jurisdiction in the District of the Azores.
The seminar was broadcast online and can be viewed or reviewed on the Facebook page “Qualificação Profissional e Emprego Açores” (Professional Qualification and Employment in the Azores), as can be read in the note published on the Government Portal.

In Diário dos Açores-Osvaldo Cabral-director

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