Officers have vowed to take a more “educational approach” to disciplining offending drivers, as opposed to a repressive approach – in practice striking against issuing fines – to demonstrate their dissatisfaction regarding demanding timetables.
Newspaper Correio da Manhã claims, in some cases Algarve officers are being forced to work five consecutive nightshifts from midnight to 8am, even when they have court duties during the day.
Terrestrial officers are also complaining of having to work a 50-hour week with only one day off a week.
Some complain they have insufficient time to rest, while others claim they do not have enough time to visit family in other parts of the country.
This, unidentified officers told the newspaper, could result in poorer policing and even a higher suicide rate among the professionals.
Concerns are also that this form of protest action could have ripple effects and be replicated by other commands throughout the country.
It is not the first time a ‘strike against fines’ has been used to carry police officers’ disgruntlements.
In September 2011, under the slogan ‘Week of Indignation’, police spent several days doing as little as possible in protest against new police statutes and a shortage of means with which to do their jobs.
Some 30,000 police officers, belonging to six separate unions, used the action to make the government take their demands seriously after talks between them broke down.
Similar long stances were also called for in 2000 and 2006, although with varying degrees of success.
Under the Portuguese Constitution, the only law enforcement authorities who enjoy the right to strike are health and safety officers and prison guards.