Portuguese workers at Lajes Air Base have not received their wages for the first four days of this month and do not know when they will be paid, due to the US government shutdown.
“To date, there are no guarantees as to when the outstanding wages will be paid. Despite this, workers have been advised by both the Portuguese and American commands to report for work, even without any guarantee that they will be paid for the days worked,“ denounced the Lajes Base Workers’ Representative Committee in a press release.
The workers speak of a ”serious and unprecedented situation.” They say they have not received their wages for the period between the 1st and 4th of this month due to the improper introduction of a “temporary and unpaid suspension applicable to US civil servants,” which “has no basis in Portuguese law and cannot be applied to workers hired under the Cooperation and Defense Agreement between Portugal and the United States of America.”
“We are facing an unacceptable situation that violates the basic principles of labor justice and compromises the dignity of Portuguese workers. It is unacceptable that we are forced to work without guarantees of remuneration, in a context where we already face outdated salaries and precarious conditions,” they stress.

In Diário Insular, José Lourenço-director

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