The Government presented this Monday to the sector's unions a proposal aimed at regulating the working hours of professional firefighters, in a negotiation that aims to standardize the rules applied by different municipalities. The president of the National Union of Professional Firefighters (SNBP), Sérgio Carvalho, confirmed to the Portuguese news agency the receipt of the document, considering it a fundamental negotiation to create mechanisms and rules that municipalities can then apply to their fire brigades.
The conversations between the executive and the unions will cover issues such as time recording, vacations, rest periods, and overtime work. Sérgio Carvalho warned that current law limits overtime work to 60% of base salary, a limit frequently exceeded due to lack of staff, and defended that it is necessary to create legislation that allows paying firefighters for additional services, such as on-call duties in disaster situations.
The SNBP also signed this Monday a Collective Agreement with the Municipal Council of Faro, which regulates the scheduling of vacations and rest days, as well as the right to meal allowance. The mayor, António Pina, argued that there is a disconnect between the characteristics of the firefighter profession and public service rules, which are not suitable for this professional category.
Sérgio Carvalho expressed expectation that the Government will have flexibility to hear the representative structures of professionals, maintaining the availability to negotiate until the last day. The union leader warned that if the executive insists on measures that take away rights from workers, there will be no agreement, highlighting that firefighters want the same conditions for payment of hours and allowances as other careers in the public service.
