The prison guards’ strike, which was scheduled to begin today and for an indefinite period, was called off, after the union representing the workers and the Ministry of Justice reached an understanding
According to the president of the Union of Industry, General Services, Food, Civil Construction (SIACSA), Gilberto Lima, an understanding was possible that provides for the review of point one of clause 7, related to the duration of the probationary period, the duration of which is established by law is one year.
According to Gilberto Lima, after 2 days of negotiations, the impasses were overcome.
“We understand that there was a need to include the temporary suspension (of the strike) in the aforementioned agreement. As they did not agree, understanding that we should be more flexible, we said ‘yes, let’s remove this temporary word’”.
The Ministry of Justice, through the Director of Prison Services and Social Reinsertion, Odair Pedro, denies any pressure for trainee prison officers to sign contracts and guarantees that no worker will be harmed.
“At no time did the Ministry impose the contract on people, so much so that the contract was in the hands of all employees of the Ministry of Justice, on all the islands, there were even situations in which agents, during the appointment process, asked that If the contract included the issue of vacation, which is entitled to 22 working days of vacation. The contract was in the hands of the trainees for almost a month, which means that there is no situation of imposition”, he assured.
It is worth remembering that 98 prison officers had announced a strike, for an indefinite period, starting on October 22nd, due to career and remuneration issues, lack of personal security in prison establishments and non-compliance with wages.
