PCP to press for repayment to former Lajes Base workers
Azores GuideThe PCP will again raise former Lajes Base workers' pension payments during discussion of the 2027 State Budget.
The PCP said it will press the Assembly of the Republic to pay amounts that it says were unfairly cut until 2023 from the pensions of former Portuguese Lajes Base workers who retired after the reduction of the US presence.
Marco Varela, the PCP/Açores regional coordinator, met former workers and SITACEHTT at the headquarters of the Union of Trade Unions of Angra do Heroísmo on Terceira. The former workers requested the meeting. They discussed removing the sustainability factor from the former workers' pensions.
The PCP argues that beneficiaries should receive the amounts for 2015 to 2023. The factor stopped being applied in 2024, but the change was not retroactive, according to Varela. He said the issue affects about 450 former Portuguese Lajes Base workers.
The party intends to raise the matter during discussion of the 2027 State Budget. Varela said it will coordinate with its parliamentary group on the possibility of again proposing the restoration of the amounts.
Participants also discussed possible contamination of soils and aquifers at Lajes Base and the work of a regional commission studying the matter. Varela called for a broad study for Terceira and said workers' knowledge could contribute to the commission's conclusions and to any later measures needed.
Sources
Azores Guide
Author