Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal, Sept. 25, 2026 (Lusa) - The coordinator of the CGTP/Azores trade union confederation, Rui Teixeira, called on Friday for greater transparency in the privatisation processes currently underway in the region and emphasised the importance of safeguarding workers' rights and the regional public interest.

«Relevant information is yet to be shared with workers or their representatives, and the monitoring committee announced this week confirms precisely what we have been saying from the outset: workers and the regional public interest can be better included in this process. There is a need for robust arguments to support these privatisations,» stated the trade union leader at a press conference in Angra do Heroísmo, on Terceira Island.

When presenting the conclusions of the CGTP/Azores coordinating committee meeting, Rui Teixeira highlighted the importance of preserving public control over companies that provide essential services to the region, such as SEGMA, which provides engineering, management and maintenance services, and Globaleda, which specialises in information and communication technologies.

In the case of SEGMA, he recalled the company's «swift response» following the fire that affected the Divino Espírito Santo Hospital in Ponta Delgada on 1 May 2024, and in the case of Globaleda, he highlighted its role in civil protection.

«In a region such as the Autonomous Region of the Azores, with the geographical characteristics we have, to dispose of assets of this nature (…) is an act of irresponsibility that we simply cannot comprehend,» he emphasised.

As for the airline Azores Airlines, the union leader reiterated that privatisation «was not a requirement of the European Commission», but a proposal from the regional government, and insisted that the government has grounds to prevent it.

«The Autonomous Region of the Azores has geographical characteristics that are not compatible with the rules and criteria that apply to other areas,» he stressed.

Rui Teixeira questioned whether, following privatisation, the airline would continue flying to the islands of Pico, Faial and Santa Maria if the routes were not profitable, and whether it might even start flying to other parts of the world.

«One way or another, any of these privatisations will, in the short, medium and long term, prove more costly for workers, families and the region, because we will be the ones footing the bill for the profits they will need to make,» he stressed.

According to the CGTP/Azores coordinator, there is still an opportunity to safeguard workers' rights.

«In two and a half years' time, there will be redundancies. There is absolutely no doubt about that,» he pointed out.

In the case of SEGMA and Globaleda, the announcement of privatisation has already led some workers to leave as they seek a «more favourable situation» at another company, he revealed.

«We are already suffering a loss to the regional public interest, because we are losing technical knowledge, experience and operational capacity, and we haven't even privatised yet,» he stressed.

The trade union leader challenged the regional government to ask whether the public supports these privatisations.

«If people, from Santa Maria to Corvo, realise the harm that the privatisation of these three companies will cause them, then these processes will not go ahead because they are not politically sustainable,» he said.

The CGTP/Azores coordinator also insisted that «a general and significant increase in all wages is necessary and urgent», noting that a petition is currently underway to bring the issue up for debate in the Azorean parliament.

«What is at stake in a 15% increase in all wages, or in the regional top-up to the minimum wage, is partial compensation for the rise in the cost of living due to recent inflation (…). If we look back over the last five years, we will conclude that workers have lost far more than 15%,» he stressed.

The CGTP/Azores also described the signals sent by the central government about possible changes to the social security system as "worrying» and called for massive participation in the strike by workers in general civil service roles on 2 October.

CYB/ADB // ADB.

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