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Reminds health professionals and others from the various “state-of-the-art public services” in the fight against the pandemic, to say that Covid-19 has demonstrated the importance of all these workers, who “have played a tireless role” . “It is important to value and remember that they were always at the forefront.” And, as he always defended when he directed the CGTP, he again asked the government to commit itself “to actively fight against layoffs, precariousness and low wages.” “It is a challenging time, where everyone must shoulder their responsibilities.”
The action, with previously established distance rules, “corresponds to what the CGTP said was necessary: to make insurance on May 1”. This request was heard several times through the speakers that CGTP placed at various points in Alameda: “This May 1 is different from the others. The organization’s golden rule is respect for social distance ”. A few minutes later, another warning: “Stay in your seats. Our discipline is very important.” And yet: “Keep your distance. That is the appeal I make.”
Between the songs of April and the screams of May: “May is on the street! April continues! “,” Work is a right, without it being done! “- the union members who were mobilized (the organization asked that only union representatives come) remained in place, previously arranged.” Each row had a manager and we already knew where to go, “says observer Elisabete Santos, union leader. of Workers of Commerce, Offices and Services of Portugal (CESP), the union that Isabel Camarinha led for many years, while, together with other colleagues, she disinfects her hands with alcohol, in row 6, relatively close to the car deployed in the stage where the new CGTP general secretary had spoken a few minutes ago. “We disinfected our hands when we arrived and now [no final]. And we also have masks, “he says, noting that” despite the situation, the boys tried to respect the rules. “” It is a unique date. 130 years of May 1 are not always celebrated. “
At the time of the demobilization, about a dozen union members joined, more and less distant, at the door of a café-restaurant, which allowed the consumption of beer outside the building. “It was hot and, with the sun, we were thirsty,” he shoots, in conversation with the observer Cristina Torres, from the Local Administration Workers Union (STAL). He was not surprised by the duration of the demonstration, about 45 minutes, not counting the mobilization of people by lines.
“It is natural that it be short. On top of that, we can’t hug, say hi. ” He also argues that “I couldn’t help but celebrate Workers’ Day, especially in these circumstances, in which many people are victims of unemployment, the firing of companies with astronomical profits, the deregulation of working hours.” Rui Pinheiro, also from STAL, adds that the safety distances were maintained “as much as possible.” “There is always someone who does not respect so much, but it is difficult not to hug him. And when we listen to the hymn … it is always a more emotional moment, of joy, but we had to be apart. “
Célia Portela eliminates, along with two other CESP colleagues, the red and white ribbons that previously marked the distances. “We arrived at 9 in the morning and with a meter, a five-meter rope to measure the lines,” he says. The work of “implantation”, as they call it, is faster. “” We could not pass the date. We complied with the measures, we distributed masks. We went beyond the guidelines of the DGS, which currently only requires the use of a mask in closed spaces. But we wanted to give an example. “
And PSP? Did you have problems with the demo or later? Nothing or almost nothing, if it were not for the Observer journalists who, sitting on a bench in front of the computer, did not follow the security distances. “They have to escape, there are three in a bank, they are not doing it.” The appeals that the journalists were covering for the event were not valid either. “They have to separate.” Result: one on each side of the bank and the third on the floor.
But serious problems, nothing. At least that is what the men in charge of coordinating the security forces device at the site reported to the Observer. Four “ramonas” of the Special Police Units were parked on the lawns of Alameda D. Afonso Henriques, in this case to transport the subgroup of the PSP Intervention Corps that was in prevention.
The streets are cut in some places, to allow the passage of buses chartered by unions and that came from Setúbal, with a third of capacity each, but without bars, without protective equipment as the police usually use in more “complicated” demonstrations. : shields, helmets, elbow pads or knee pads. Nothing or almost nothing, everyone brought equipment for another type of protection: visors. Some with thick elastic straps that left red marks on the scalp. Bones of the trade of those who are used to the worst.
