"When we talk about the statutes of volunteer firefighters, it is to equalize the statute, in this case, to the professional firefighters, which the MPT has already managed to do in the Funchal City Council", said Válter Rodrigues, in statements to the Lusa agency, after a visit to the volunteer firefighters at the Campo da Barca barracks, in Funchal. On this third day of the campaign for the Madeira early elections on May 26, the MPT's top candidate said that salaries and pensions are a reason for struggle for workers in the region, including volunteer firefighters, and defended that it is necessary to guarantee quality of life, but, "at this moment, nothing is being guaranteed". "Their salaries [volunteer firefighters] are one euro and a little above the minimum wage [850 euros], this is a shame, while a professional firefighter starts with 1,300 euros", he said, considering that it is necessary to value these professionals also for "respect for families". Válter Rodrigues said that, in addition to better salaries, it is important to ensure a collective work contract, with "a basis where they can know when they can retire, be qualified", stressing that "without that there is also no quality of life". According to the MPT candidate, Madeira has a total of about 130 firefighters, of which 80 are volunteers and 43 are professionals, with the Campo da Barca barracks, in Funchal, being "the largest" in the region. "We cannot just look at the barracks and all that, but we do have to look at the quality of life, for now, of the people", he reinforced, adding that the firefighters' facilities are being remodeled, "but at this moment the main thing is missing, which is the salary that meets today's expenses". If the MPT is elected to the regional assembly in the early elections of May 26, it intends to expose as an example the situation that "a professional firefighter earns more at the beginning of his career than a PSP -- Public Security Police". In addition to the contact with the volunteer firefighters, Válter Rodrigues was today with the Rodoeste workers, "who are public transport employees who have a huge difference in salaries and also in pensions" compared to other companies in the sector in the region. The MPT candidate said that there are three companies that provide public transport services, defending "a professional career that covers all public transport employees" to resolve the issue of salaries, which "are very low", and to guarantee "pensions at 60". The Madeira legislative elections take place with 14 candidates disputing the 47 seats in the regional parliament, in a single electoral constituency: ADN, BE, PS, Livre, IL, RIR, CDU (PCP/PEV), Chega, CDS-PP, MPT, PSD, PAN, PTP and JPP. The early elections take place eight months after the most recent regional legislative elections, after the President of the Republic dissolved the Madeiran parliament, following the political crisis triggered in January, when the leader of the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP), Miguel Albuquerque, was made an arguido in a process in which suspicions of corruption are being investigated. In September 2023, the PSD/CDS coalition won without an absolute majority and elected 23 deputies. The PS won 11, the JPP five, Chega four, while the CDU, the IL, the PAN (which signed an agreement on parliamentary incidence with the social democrats) and the BE each obtained a mandate. The PSD has always governed in the archipelago and won with an absolute majority in 11 elections between 1976 and 2015. Read Also: PAN says that the value of the Azores government subsidy to firefighters is an affront (Portuguese version)