Lisbon, July 28, 2025 (Lusa) - At least 14 departures and four arrivals were cancelled on Monday at Lisbon airport due to a strike by SPdH/Menzies (formerly Groundforce) ground handling workers, with cargo planes also suffering considerable delays, according to a union source.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, Carlos Araújo, leader of the Metal and Related Industries Union (SIMA), said that this morning at least 14 departures and four arrivals had been cancelled on the last day of the strike by workers at the handling company (airport ground handling) company Menzies, which affected airports over the weekend.
However, in the morning there were “more than 40 to 50 trucks with cargo” at the cargo terminal that either had not been unloaded or had been waiting so long that they exceeded the drivers’ permitted waiting time.
According to Carlos Araújo, most of the cargo will not have been shipped during the strike.
At other airports, the impact was less severe, but still noticeable.
The ongoing strike, called by SIMA and the Transport Union (ST), began at midnight on Friday and will continue until midnight today.
This is the first of five four-day strikes scheduled for weekends until the beginning of September. In August, the strike periods are scheduled for 8 to 11, 15 to 18, 22 to 25 and 29 August to 1 September.
Carlos Araújo said that there have been no negotiations with the company, nor are any scheduled, indicating that he has been told that this will not happen while strike notices are in effect.
“Among the various strikes we have already scheduled, there were long periods when there was no advance notice, and the company’s position is the same, that is, it is just an excuse,” he stressed.
“We hope that the company, which has almost 15 days until the next strike, will have the opportunity to get its act together and give us a guarantee that it will review the wage rates, with a specific date,” he said, stressing that workers need guarantees.
“It is absolutely incomprehensible and I am sure that most of the Portuguese people cannot even imagine that there are full-time salaries below the minimum wage,” he lamented.
Lusa contacted ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal, which manages the national infrastructure, and is awaiting a response.
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Lusa
