“What led us to take this decision were the problems that have been occurring at AIMA since it began operating, which are closely linked to the lack of staff,” Artur Cerqueira, leader of FNSTFPS, told Lusa, stressing that the strike will last until the end of the year.

“There is a huge shortage of personnel” and the new migration mission structure, announced in July by the government to resolve pending cases, is “making hires without transparency”, but “the lack of resources at AIMA remains unresolved”.

FNSTFPS is also demanding the regularisation of the contractual situation of sociocultural mediators, hired by NGOs and IPSS and on seconded service at AIMA.

“We demand the integration of all mediators who are doing permanent work” because the current situation “constitutes a situation of illegal contracted work”, stated Artur Cerqueira.

AIMA workers are “being pressured to work overtime” and “a civil servant cannot refuse to work extra”, stressed the union leader.

That is why the strike notice period is between August 22 and December 31, he explained.

“From now on, each worker can decide whether or not to accept working these overtime hours”, he explained.

FNSTFPS’s list of demands supporting the notice period mentions several problems at AIMA, including the lack of internal regulations, the lack of internal communication, “undersized” teams, which results in an overload of work and high levels of stress and anxiety.

According to the document, to which Lusa had access, many employees “have already exceeded 150 hours of overtime” in 2024 (the legal limit for public servants), but “continue to work overtime without being paid”.

“The Federation believes that the situation we have reached is the result of a set of erroneous policies by several governments”, but “the important and urgent thing is for the government to assume its responsibilities and that all measures must be taken, as a matter of urgency”, putting “an end to the trampling on the rights of workers and citizens”, the union also states.