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Over
3500 Portuguese police officers claim their rights
(Lisbon, October 1st, 2007)
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Over
3500 police officers took part of a demonstration in Lisbon on October 1st.
They claimed respect for their collective and individual rights by the Portuguese government.
Up until now, the Portuguese government has shown no sign of respecting the police officers legal rights.
Present in Lisbon, together with Portuguese Police Union representatives along with EuroCOP member Sinapol, were EuroCOP member organisations from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Greece, Spain and Slovakia. The EuroCOP delegation was led by EuroCOP Executive Committee Member, Manuel Lopez. |
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Lisbon. EuroCOP member organisations support Portuguese colleagues. © Danish Police
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"We are here to support our fellow Portuguese colleagues in their fight for legal rights," Manuel Lopez said, shortly after the demonstration had started. "We have been facing similar problems in Spain with the Guardia Civil, and thanks to our persistent fight and support of its staff organisation AUGC, we are now seeing some changes taking place there. This is what we hope will happen in Portugal as well".
Claus Redder Madsen, the international Union Secretary of the Danish Police Union, was one of the EuroCOP member organisations present:
"The Danish Police union believes that this kind of development, where the Portuguese government isn't respecting fundamental democratic rights, is to be taken very seriously. The main point being that the government doesn't accept the police's right to be organised in a union, the other reason that police union representatives have been facing strict disciplinary actions."
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Rising number of disciplinary actions
The main reason for the protest was the continued failure of the government to respect legal rights to consultation of police officers. In addition, the number of disciplinary actions against police union representatives has risen dramatically over the past months.
'We urge the Portuguese government to deliver a clear signal to police unions in Portugal and the European public. We wish to see a clear commitment by the government to a strong and vibrant social dialogue in the police service,' EuroCOP President Heinz Kiefer said. 'A working social dialogue is an essential element of a police service in a democracy. We expect the government to ensure that police union representatives will be able to fulfil their duties without fear of disciplinary measures taken against them.' |
Over 3500 police officers, including union representatives from Denmark, Greece, Belgium, Slovakia, the UK and Spain took part in the demonstration. © Danish Police Union
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Düsseldorf. German Police Union GdP hands in a resolution to the Portuguese consulate.
© GdP
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German support in Düsseldorf
EuroCOP's German member organisation, GdP, showed their support by handing in an official protest in the form of a resolution to the Portuguese consulate in Düsseldorf on October 1st.
"With dismay it has come to our awareness that the disciplinary actions against police union members recently have risen very rapidly. Even though we cannot comment on particular cases, the high number represents a clear signal to try to silence the attempts from the [Portuguese] colleagues towards their members."
Earlier German GdP sent a letter to the German Minister of Interior, Wolfgang Schäuble, requesting him to ask his Portuguese Colleagues to secure that the police unions in Portugal can continue their work without being afraid any disciplinary actions against them.
EuroCOP supports complaint against Portugal
EuroCOP together with the European Trade Union Confederation ETUC are supporting a formal complaint procedure against Portugal in the Council of Europe. 'The current practice in the Portuguese police is clearly in violation of the European Social Charter,' EuroCOP President Heinz Kiefer said.
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