Building fairer, more collaborative and sustainable labour environment depends on everyone, defends Maria João Carreiro - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Juventude, Habitação e Emprego

The Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing and Employment reiterated the Regional Government's "firm commitment" to "continuing strengthening extrajudicial mechanisms to solve labour disputes," such as the Regional Labour Conciliation and Arbitration Service - SERCAT.

At the opening of the seminar "The Extrajudicial Resolution of Labour Disputes in the Azores," which took place in Ponta Delgada, Maria João Carreiro stated that this work involves institutional support, "awareness raising among employers and workers about the advantages of conciliation and the constant improvement of the legal framework supporting these processes."

"This effort needs everyone's involvement and, for this reason, I am calling on companies and unions to continue believing in dialogue as the first way forward and legal experts to recommend and facilitate mediation whenever possible," she said.

The government official insisted that "only with everyone's contribution can we build a fairer, more collaborative and sustainable working environment." Therefore, extrajudicial mechanisms for labour disputes are close, accessible, efficient and humanised.

"Out-of-court settlements provide quicker, less costly and often better-adapted solutions to the specifics of each case, often preserving the relationship of trust between the parties involved," she emphasised.

Maria João Carreiro recalled that "labour disputes directly impact people's lives, companies’ productivity and social peace." As she pointed out, “when a dispute between an employer and a worker drags on in the courts for years, everyone loses: the worker loses, as their rights are put on hold; the employer loses, as they live in uncertainty; and society loses, as it bears the costs and delays of the judicial system.”

Created 36 years ago, SERCAT operates under the Regional Secretariat for Youth, Housing and Employment - Regional Directorate for Vocational Training and Employment, precisely to serve as an alternative route for labour disputes. It acts as a facilitator of dialogue between Azorean workers and employers, creating pathways for understanding where there were previously only barriers.

Since its inception, more than 12,300 conciliation procedures have been carried out, achieving an overall success rate of 61%, as presented by Susana Martins, Director of Labour Services, in her presentation "SERCAT - More than 35 years of conciliation." 

Thanks to these agreements, more than 8.7 million Euros have been negotiated, which reflects the actual impact of this service on the lives of Azorean workers and employers.

"Each agreement reached out of court represents not just one less court case, but above all a worker and employer who have found a consensual solution, with swiftness and dignity," stated Maria João Carreiro.

"The extrajudicial resolution of conflicts," moderated by Renato Medeiros, Regional Director for Professional Qualification and Employment, featured José de Araújo Barros, Arbitrator Judge at CIMARA; Carlos Câmara, Arbitrator President of the CESA Arbitration Court; Maria José Araújo, President of SERCAT's Horta Conciliation and Arbitration Commission; and Nuno Vicente, Public Prosecutor - Sector Coordinator for Labour Jurisdiction in the Azores District.

The seminar was broadcast online and is available on the Facebook page "Azores Vocational Qualification and Employment."