By Catarina Demony
LISBON (Reuters) – Portuguese teachers, railway workers, police officers and garbage collectors are planning protests and strikes during a visit by Pope Francis next month in an effort to force the government to raise wages and improve their working conditions.
Francis will travel to Lisbon from Aug. 2-6 to attend the World Youth Day global gathering of young Catholics. Portuguese authorities expect around 1 million attendees.
The pope will also hold a Mass, visit the Fatima sanctuary some 130 km (81 miles) north of Lisbon and meet victims of clergy sexual abuse.
Portugal’s Confederation of Security Forces (CFS), which represents an array of police forces and prison guards, announced on Monday a series of protests during the first week of August.
The CFS said it would stage one of the protests on the first day of Francis’ visit outside the Belem Palace, where President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will hold a welcoming ceremony.
“His Holiness will find out how security forces are treated in Portugal,” said CFS’s commission secretary Cesar Nogueira.
“Our country is considered safe not because of its leaders but thanks to the use and abuse of its professionals… whose salaries have not been raised in 10 years.”
Interior Minister Jose Luis Carneiro has said there will be enough officers to ensure safety at the events involving the pope, so “security will not be affected in any way”.
Lisbon’s garbage collectors and street sweepers could also strike during Francis’ visit to demand better working conditions, their union SNMOT said this week, adding that it was open to negotiations to avoid such action.
Separately, train ticket collectors and ticket office workers decided on Wednesday to extend an ongoing partial strike until Aug. 6, the last day of Francis’ visit. Many of the young Catholics are expected to travel to Lisbon by train.
Teachers have previously announced their own plan to protest over pay and working conditions during the papal visit.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Gareth Jones)
