In a statement, Sitava – the Aviation and Airport Workers' Union – and STHAA – the Handling, Aviation and Airport Workers' Union – announced that they had issued a "prior notice of strike, covering mainland Portugal and the Autonomous Region of Madeira," from "00:00 hours on December 31, 2025 to 24:00 hours on January 1, 2026."

According to the unions, SPdH workers are now seeing “their future, their rights and conditions, and the future of the company questioned,” pointing to the preliminary report from the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC), which “places the consortium formed by Clece/South in first place in the competition for the allocation of ground handling licenses, in categories 3 (baggage terminal), 4 (cargo) and 5 (apron).”

Meanwhile, the Government has extended the licenses currently under bidding until at least May 19, 2026, they noted.

Jobs at risk

However, “since the preliminary report was released, SPdH workers remain in an absolutely unsustainable situation of uncertainty and anxiety about their future, which is unacceptable, even more so in a sector like aviation and airports,” they said, pointing out that “more than 3,700 direct jobs are at stake (2,888 in Lisbon, 482 in Porto, 207 in Funchal, 137 in Faro and 29 in Porto Santo)”.

For the unions, “if the ANAC's final decision to grant the licenses to the Clece/South consortium is finalized, and according to information from the Government, the transfer of undertaking will not apply”, adding that there is also “the possibility of TAP proceeding to self-service in its operation in Lisbon (and, possibly, in Porto)”, something that would lead to “a division of workers between two (or more) companies, without the transfer of undertaking also applying”.

In the statement, the union structures indicated that contacts with the Clece/South consortium made it clear that, at this moment, there are “no conditions to assume any written commitment (primarily because they have not yet won anything), nor to give any written guarantee regarding jobs or acquired rights,” and that the companies do not know how “the selection/division of workers (from categories 3, 4 and 5, in Lisbon, Porto and Faro) would proceed.”

The unions further detailed that “the licenses of SPdH in Funchal, Porto Santo and categories 1 and 2 in the passenger area in Lisbon, Porto and Faro are valid and were recently renewed until April 2031,” indicating that “in the current tender, 2,070 workers are involved out of a total of 3,743, so only these would potentially be subject to the transfer of the establishment.”

Legitimate

The unions consider it legitimate for SPdH workers to fight "so that their jobs and rights are no longer threatened, that their Company Agreement is respected and the content of the collective bargaining is not undermined, and that their personal and professional dignity is respected."

The strike aims for "the effective and written guarantee that, whatever the final decision of ANAC (National Civil Aviation Authority) in granting ground handling licenses in categories 3, 4 and 5, in Lisbon, Porto and Faro, SPdH workers will see their jobs secured, as well as their rights enshrined in the collective bargaining agreement and other regulations in force, and the negotiation commitments undertaken by SPdH for 2026," they indicated.