The strike will take place between 14:00 and 16:00, focusing on the entrance to the Efacec headquarters, in Arroteia, in São Mamede de Invista, Matosinhos.
On October 28, the workers, in a plenary session, decided to go on strike, after a forced suspension of several sectors of the company, which operates in the sectors of energy, engineering and transportation, due to lack of funds for the purchase of raw materials.
Days earlier, on October 22, the Union of Manufacturing, Energy and Environmental Activities Workers in the North (Site-Norte) had already called for the government to intervene, as the “owner of Efacec”, to ensure that the company had the raw materials needed to resume normal activity.
“The state, as the owner of the company, must transparently control the company and must purchase raw materials to run Efacec and fulfill the demands in its portfolio,” Miguel Moreira, Director of Site-Norte, defended the agency, November 4.
According to the union leader, “the lack of funds to pay the salaries of suppliers and purchase raw materials is a recurring situation in Efacec, which has been going on for a long time, but has worsened in recent months,” which has brought various sectors of the company to a halt.
This is something we find very strange, because we don’t want the government to put money in there and we don’t want to know where it’s going. Miguel Moreira said that this is a state company and what we are defending is that Efacec should continue in the state area and the government should provide a budget for the purchase of raw materials, but control this amount and monitor where the money goes.”
The Site-Norte leader stressed that unions and workers are “very concerned and worried”, stressing that “Efacec is not going there” and admitting: “Maybe, the government’s intention – as has happened with other privatizations – is to put Efacec in a tough and fragile state and then sell it for “A strawberry and a half”.
However, Site-Norte emphasized that “Efacec is not just a company” and “needed by the country, especially the North”, being able to “produce for the national and international market and contribute to the state budget, the government has the will for this to happen”.
“Now, it seems to me that we have a government whistling to the side, pretending,” he lamented, noting that “a month ago and such” the union asked for a meeting of the Ministries of Economy and Labour, “with Parpública’s knowledge,” but “the government has not yet had time to say When will this meeting take place?
Miguel Moreira asks “Where is the money” to finance the 70 million euros the state received from the bank and asks for answers “from the Minister of Economy and the Prime Minister”.
As for any doubts about the ability of the company – whose financial results had deteriorated significantly in July and August – to ensure that salaries are paid in the coming months, the union leader is categorical: “We do not even acknowledge that this issue is a raise.”
The government intends to complete the reactivation process of 71.73% of Efacec’s capital currently in state hands before the end of the year, with the Cabinet’s decision to approve the third phase of the reactivation process, recognizing the participation. Of the two groups that submitted binding proposals – DST SGPS and Sing – Global Investments – they were published on September 8 in Diário da República.
Barpubblica told Público that the third phase of negotiations “began on September 28, with several meetings with investors interested in acquiring the above-mentioned contribution, with the final proposals to be received within three weeks.”
The Cabinet’s approval of a decree-law nationalizing 71.73% of the capital of Efacec resulted from the departure of the capital, Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, after her involvement in the Luanda case. The leaks, where the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism revealed more than 715,000 files detailing the alleged financial schemes of the businesswoman.
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