In written statements to Lusa, José Luís Carneiro, defended that the cancellation of the strike by the inspectors of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) “is important because it guarantees that airport transit takes place with greater fluidity and comfort for passengers” , as well as for “security control” at national borders.

“This was the result of a lot of work within the Government, but also of a deep dialogue with the representative structures of SEF workers. This long and arduous path has not yet come to an end. We now have the transition period until October, so that SEF workers and the competences of this institution are fully assumed by other entities”, said José Luís Carneiro.

The Union of Investigation, Inspection and Borders Inspectors (SIIFF) revealed today that the strikes by SEF inspectors planned for Lisbon, Porto, Faro and Madeira airports had been cancelled.

At issue were the scheduled strikes at Humberto Delgado Airport, in Lisbon, between 5:00 am and 10:00 am on the days of May 27th to 29th, June 3rd to 5th, June 10th to 12th, June 17th to June 19th and June 24th to 26th.

At the remaining airports and border posts, namely maritime ones, the strike would take place on the 22nd and 29th of May and the 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th of June.

José Luís Carneiro defended that the Government diploma for the transition of SEF workers to other entities "always sought to safeguard the rights of workers, guaranteeing remuneration gains for all professionals and the transition to equivalent categories, among other important dimensions".

However, SIIFF today defended a dissenting point of view.

“Regardless of [the SEF extinction diploma] having been enacted, it fell far short of what we understood would safeguard our rights. There are some matters that do not meet the safeguard of those same rights, namely with questions of seniority and some discretion in the application of certain matters that are not common to all career categories”, said the president of SIIFF, Renato Mendonça to Lusa.