“There was total adherence to the strike in the evening, in the morning we are at 75% – there was one worker who went to work – and we are on minimum services. There is a large adherence to the strike and the monthly billing [to local authorities] is only being carried out very partially”, Luís Fernandes told Lusa.

The member of the company's trade union committee and leader of the Southern Union of Workers in the Manufacturing, Energy, and Environmental Activities Industries (SITE-Sul) was speaking on the sidelines of a gathering of around a dozen and a half workers in front of the company's headquarters in Faro.

These operational technicians “treat, produce and distribute all the water that the Algarve receives and that all Algarve citizens consume”, explained Luís Fernandes, specifying that 33 employees are involved.

The strike, which involves a stoppage between 00:00 and 23:59 today, was scheduled for the last day of the month when the monthly readings normally take place for the municipal councils served by Águas do Algarve, the company responsible for supplying fresh water to the 16 municipalities in the Algarve and which is part of the Águas de Portugal group.

The “vast majority” of these operational technicians receive salaries “slightly above the national minimum wage” given the importance of their duties, said Luís Fernandes.

Some of the workers “have 20 years of experience” at Águas do Algarve, work “shifts with irregular hours”, an effort that is “not valued by the company”, stressed the SITE-Sul leader.

“They receive a shift allowance, which they add to their salary, and in reality, they take home something like 1,000 euros, or less than that, which makes no sense in a company like this, which makes a profit and positive results every year”, noted Luís Fernandes.

Many of these workers, he continued, “have a second job in order to survive given the cost of living in the Algarve”.

According to the union leader, the workers are demanding “a salary in the order of 1,000 euros”, which would represent an increase, on average, “of 80/90 euros”.

The strike scheduled for today came about after the management failed to respond to a petition signed by workers in May.

Lusa news agency asked Águas do Algarve for a reaction, but a source at the company declined to comment, clarifying that matters relating to the demands of operational technicians are the responsibility of the Águas de Portugal group.