O “Business Journal” makes headlines this Monday with discontent within Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP), where more than 230 senior technicians accuse the administration of discrimination in career progression. The government will receive them at the end of the month.
The workers sent a open letter to the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luzcontesting a decision by the company’s board of directors — chaired by Miguel Cruz — which decided, this year, promote only managers and appointment positionsleaving out the remaining senior technicians with years of service.
O Union of Road Infrastructure Workers (STIR) asked for one urgent hearing to the minister and will be received at the Ministry of Infrastructure on October 29th.
In the letter, which the Business had access, the signatories report situations of career freeze, unjustified salary differences e work overload in structuring projects such as PRRo PNI 2030 ea high speed rail. They also accuse the administration of favoring new hires with time exemption (20% salary increase)refused to older staff who perform the same functions.
Senior technicians warn of the internal demotivation ea departure of experienced staffcalling for “fair and transparent valuation measures”. The June decision is, according to the workers, “clearly discriminatory” and “incapable of retaining talent” in the public company responsible for investments exceeding 17 billion euros.
IP reacted to the news by saying that the accusation “does not correspond to reality”, stating that “In addition to the annual salary increases negotiated with the unions, all workers have, through the provisions of their Collective Labor Agreement, annual salary progressions according to the professional categories in which they find themselves”.
The company adds that “in 2025, salary increases resulted in a transversal value of 60 euros for all workers and the salary progressions already applied covered 1206 workers in the higher technical career and 2096 in the remaining careers”.
“The promotion process in the higher technical career is essentially a process of professional conformation, with consideration of seniority (obviously without constituting a single criterion), the nature of professional experience and the level of performance, which covered 75 workers, with and without a management position”, IP also states.