Hotel workers demand pay rise

The Madeira Hotel Union held a meeting of union leaders and delegates today at the headquarters of the Presidency of the Regional Government (PSD), in Funchal, to demand a salary increase of 75 euros for all workers in the sector.

“Madeira has won the World Travel Award for the world’s best island destination for the tenth year running and it should be the case that workers there have the best wages in the world. On the contrary, they have one of the worst wages in the world,” warned union president Adolfo Freitas.

The official stressed that he does not accept the proposal from the Hotel Management of the Commercial and Industrial Association of Funchal ( ACIF-CCIM ), which represents businesspeople, which points to a salary increase of 5.5% for 2025, a value above the expected inflation rate, guaranteeing a minimum increase of 53 euros.

“We are not going to sign this agreement,” said Adolfo Freitas, admitting that the union could go ahead with strikes during Easter and the Flower Festival in May, two peak periods for tourism in the autonomous region.

As part of the protest at the headquarters of the State Government Presidency, in which around 40 union leaders and delegates participated, the union's proposals for a collective labor agreement and salary scale were delivered to the executive, in addition to a letter requesting their intervention in the process.

“If the government does nothing, we will hold workers’ meetings in most hotels starting the week after Carnival,” warned Adolfo Freitas, indicating that the union also intends to distribute pamphlets in several languages ​​to tourists at the airport and at hotel doors during Easter and the Flower Festival.

“We know that we are fighting against lobbies, we are not fighting against the small fry,” he said, before reinforcing: “We are fighting against the powerful [who are] supported by the Regional Government.”

The trade unionist explained that the increase proposed by employers - 53 euros - means that the vast majority of workers will start receiving the regional minimum wage, set at 915 euros from January 1, so it will not have any impact on around 3,000 workers, who would receive the minimum wage in force in 2024, which was 862 euros.

“What we are defending is 75 euros for each worker, regardless of the group,” highlighted Adolfo Freitas, explaining that the hotel sector is made up of four professional groups and 15 pay levels.