Prison guards announce strike between November 17 and January 3

O National Union of the Prison Guard Corps (SNCGP) today announced a general strike between November 17 and January 3, with the exception of minimum services and the urgent work of intervention and cynotechnic groups.

According to the union, this strike of about a month and a half will place the majority of inmates locked in cells 22 hours a day, with the exception of indispensable diligence for inmates and security by the Intervention and Prison Safety Group (GISP) and the Cinotechnic Operational Group (GOC).

The union calls for the government to comply with the already negotiated regulation on the payment of extraordinary work and multiannual promotion plan and second course of bosses, among other demands.

In statements to the agency Lusa, the president of SNCGP, Frederico Morais, explained that the exception regarding the urgent diligence of GISP and GOC are for a “question of conscience”, since there are currently 14,000 inmates in Portuguese jails, it is necessary to “redouble the security guarantees”, both of the detainees, guards and jails, “the principle that the union has always defended”.

Questioned about what this general strike implies, the trade unionist replied that at least 70% of inmates will be locked in their cells 22 hours a day and, as established by a judgment of the Lisbon Court of Relations (TRL), there will be no intimate visits, no bags with food and clothing will be allowed in, there will be only one weekly visit per inmate and the canteen will open once a week for purchase of necessities, such as hygiene and food.

Exceptions shall be made to follow-up to urgent consultations provided that there is a health hazard to inmates and all legal procedures involving the freedom or alteration of prisoners' coercion measures.

Frederico Morais said that the minimum services that have been decreed are guaranteed, but will be “compliant with rigor”.

As an example, he said that the principle “started and finished” will be ensured in the diligence, but there will be remissions in the middle to strictly comply with the stipulated daily schedule.

The chain bakeries will also not work, said the trade union leader, explaining that the State is obliged to supply the bread through external distributors, as defined in the TRL judgment.

“SNCGP is seen, after almost four years of dialogue, beneficial in our view, to reach an unsustainable position regarding the management of the Portuguese prison system. The absence of formally signed commitments, and which should already be in the middle of implementation, forced this trade union structure to advance to a period of general strike ", justifies the direction.

They point out that the payment of Supplementary Work was published in Diário da República on March 9 and that, after eight months, there is no joint dispatch from the Ministry of Justice and Finance, and “it is, at all levels, incomprehensible that the state bureaucracy overlaps with labor justice”.

As for the training of chiefs, he claims that the 45 vacancies for the course, authorized for 2025, remain to be completed at the end of 2026 and that the promotions of Main Guards, although the competition is taking place under the multiannual program, the realization of the 140 promotions does not happen, with “a stagnant career”, which exceeds 23 years of waiting for an effective progression”.

“Patience has reached the limit”, they say.