Filipe Amorim / Lusa
Firefighters delivered symbolic gifts to the government
More than a hundred firefighter firefighters in protest arrived at the Assembly of the Republic at around 11 am, this Monday, where they left gifts “full of nothing”, after walking through Lisbon to the sound of Christmas carols.
Empty gifts, for empty proposals. It was under this pretext that the firefighters distributed, in Lisbon, this Monday, gifts to our government officials.
The protest started at 9am in Terreiro do Paço, in Lisbon. The protesters, almost all of them with black Santa hats and black sweatshirts with the inscription “no risk” “#sapadores em struggle”, they held a protest march to parliament.
When they passed by Lisbon City Hall, they left some Christmas presents with the reasons for the protest, namely the need to permanent availability and the granting of a risk allowance of 50 euros.
To the sound of Christmas carols amplified by a megaphone, interrupted from time to time with shouts of ‘sapadores em combat’, they continued to Praça Luís de Camões, where they sang “A Todos um Bom Natal” and shouted “Sapadores”.
Then, still in that square in Chiado, they knelt on a minute of silence in honor of the firefighters who died in the performance of their duties.
Accompanied by families and some children and closely followed by police officers in cars and motorcycles, the firefighters also stopped at the brigade headquarters on Avenida Dom Carlos I to greet their colleagues on duty.
The sappers are protesting to demand an increase in the value of their career, which they say has not been reviewed for over 20 years, and the increase in subsidies such as risk.
At the beginning of the month, the executive suspended negotiations with the class, accusing the firefighters of what they were doing, following a protest that included firecrackers, torches and smoke near the Government headquarters.
Sappers are employees of local authorities, but their career is regulated by the central government, which adds complexity to negotiations.
The Government has insisted that there are no conditions to return to the negotiating table, refusing to discuss with the union under duress and in the face of what it classified as .
The National Union of Firefighters Sapadores has already scheduled a national strike on January 15th and a demonstration at the Assembly of the Republic.
