The call was made at Easter time, with a deadline of 31 December this year, to demand that work carried out on public holidays be valued and that overtime, which the workers consider to be insufficiently paid, be paid.

Contacted by Lusa, Orlando Almeida, leader of FNSTFPS, said that “so far there has been no response from the supervisory authority”, the former Ministry of Culture - and now the Ministry of Youth and Sports -, to the demands of these workers.

“During the previous holidays, there was a strong response to the strike and many of the most important cultural facilities had to close,” said Orlando Almeida, adding that the unions will renew their request for a meeting with the new Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Margarida Balseiro Lopes.

In April, the union leader had told Lusa that the federation had met in March with the former Minister of Culture, Dalila Rodrigues, and with the management of the Museums and Monuments of Portugal: “There was no opening for negotiation, not even a proposal” from the department.

“There was absolutely nothing. We are open to negotiations, but with something concrete,” the union leader added at the time.

According to Orlando Almeida, workers at museums, monuments and archaeological sites under public supervision receive around 15 to 20 euros on public holidays, which represents “half of a normal day’s pay”, and are only paid up to two additional hours, although they sometimes have to work more than that amount of time in total.

“This problem has been going on for years, without successive governments having taken a decision to value the work done on public holidays in museums, monuments and listed sites”, criticised the federation in a statement.

The 38 national museums, monuments and palaces managed by Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, including the Palácio Nacional de Mafra, the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and Torre de Belém in Lisbon, and the Convento de Cristo in Tomar, currently employ around a thousand people, estimated Orlando Almeida.

The Lusa news agency contacted Museus e Monumentos de Portugal by email about the strike and the possibility of opening negotiations with workers at the beginning of the week, and the entity responded, through its communications department: “At this stage, we have no additional comments to make.”

In 2023, the 38 facilities of Museus e Monumentos de Portugal received more than five million visitors.