"A strike is not off the table," Eduardo Rita, general secretary of the National Union of Postal and Telecommunications Workers (SNTCT), told Lusa.

"We are going to have a general assembly of the union next month and a general strike at CTT may possibly come out of that because of the IOS," the health subsystem known as the Social Works Regulations, which the company's management replaced with a new Social Action Plan (PAS), "to the detriment of workers."

The gathering scheduled for today by the Workers' Committee and all the unions representing CTT aimed to "protest against the attitude of the management" of the Post Office, which decided to "unilaterally" cancel the IOS and apply the PAS from January.

The SNTCT recalls that the regulation "could only be changed with the agreement of the parties" and, therefore, has filed a lawsuit in court.

The first hearing of the parties is scheduled for May 8, said Eduardo Rita.

Negotiations between management and unions began in September, but did not result in an agreement.

"We are available to negotiate something serious," guarantees the union leader.

Alda Rosário, coordinator of the CTT Workers' Committee and a postal worker at the Lisbon central office, criticized the cuts in support, at a time when the company is making profits.

In 2023, CTT, now a 100% private company, achieved net income of 60.5 million euros, an increase to almost double the previous year.

"We think that what CTT is doing to postal workers is not fair. We are paying more for less, nowadays," she emphasizes.

The change in the subsystem, which covers 35,000 beneficiaries, meant, in particular, an increase in the quota and co-payment borne by workers (which went from 43.6% to 55%).

Alda Rosário says that the workers expect the management to back down. "We are available to meet and (...) return to the regulation we had before. At least with those conditions, if not better," she stresses.

Pedro Faróia, a postman at the Cabo Ruivo mail processing center, explained to Lusa the "great impact" that the change in the health subsystem has had on his life.

The father of a young daughter with autism, he now benefits from lower reimbursements (down from 75 to 67.5%).

In addition, "they pay late, they always find problems," he says.

"Even more serious," "there are no longer any contracted doctors" as speech therapists, occupational therapists, or neuropaediatricians.

"We had to resort to doctors outside the health subsystem. (...) The provider guide continues to show that there are many services, but that is a lie, there are fewer and fewer doctors working for Médis CTT," he says.

A resident of the municipality of Sintra, one of the most populous in the country, the postman imagines the added "difficulties" in more isolated areas of the country.

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