The CP Scandal
What I see happening at CP fills me with revolt, even though I am not a frequent flyer. Constant strikes, of greater or lesser duration, which have dragged on for months with no solution in sight. Thousands of Portuguese people constantly affected see their lives, their jobs and the physical and mental tranquility to which they are entitled permanently impaired. They buy monthly passes that they only partially use without any reimbursement of the money spent and the so-called “minimum services” made available to them are ridiculous.
The rights of a few hundred CP workers seriously harm the rights of thousands of others and everything goes on like this, for months on end, without any glimmer of hope for a resolution of the conflict being visible from either party, government or unions. CP is a public company and its customers are Portuguese passengers, but no explanation has been heard from the minister responsible for transport for what has been happening, in an intolerable silence that cannot be accepted. The situation continues scandalously, I would even say shamefully!
Hernani João, Lisbon
The Church in Lent
Lent is the period we are now experiencing and which consists of the penitential time that runs until Easter. It is a time marked by necessary reflection, based on the introspection of each and every one, in which the people of God live the Passion of Christ and seek forgiveness for their sins and for those of a whole world that lives in permanent conflict. . The Church too must carry out her penitential period and, if this presupposes the recognition of humility in the errors and frontality in the face of the sins of men, in the same way she must respect and honor the victims of the evils caused by those who, in her bosom, faced defenseless children, abusing them.
The Church needs to purify itself in the justice of its practice and when it withdraws from removing priests, who did not respect it, it is mixing with bad conduct, and in danger of losing the respect of the parishioners. May the hierarchy of the Church reflect, even more so in such a significant liturgical season, so that its vocation is to open spaces of love, not to hide the lie of those who intend to use it for unforgivable designs. In this sense, may this season of Lent be a good counselor for the Church and, above all, for those who carry out their ministry in it.
Eduardo Fidalgo, Linda-a-Velha
Wages, inflation and the government
When the rise in inflation began in 2022, the Government said that wage increases should not keep up with inflation because that would lead to more inflation. As we have seen, wages have risen well below inflation, but this has not stopped rising, especially in food products. Another cause invoked is energy costs. We all know that fuels such as gasoline and diesel are much lower than they were a year ago. It is clear that the blame for inflation has nothing to do with wages, energy or other reasons, it is just taking advantage of the situation to “cash out” as much as possible. It is the unbridled speculation of the various players in the supply chain. The Government was proposed to control prices; strangely, he refused any price control, that is, he put himself at the service of speculators, against the people with the lowest incomes. Or won’t it?
Mario Pires Miguel, Reboleira
Finally the ASAE
Here a few months ago I wrote a text for the Letters to the Director, unpublished by chance, which today proves to be completely accurate. In that text, which I wrote as soon as it became known that the large stores were making exceptional profits and a long time before discussing whether this should be taxed or not, I defended that a large part of the so-called “inflation” was, in fact, a profiteering from those who sell basic, essential products, such as food, to raise prices by 20, 30, 40% or more, based on the argument of the increase in the price of oil and gas… as if tomatoes or onions were derived from petroleum…
In that old Letter to the Director, he ended by asking: where is ASAE? Who defends us? It seems that ASAE appeared, it took a few months, but it appeared. Strength. It will not be easy.
Fernando Vieira, Lisbon
the PUBLIC made a mistake
In the article “Animation has a bando à parte in Porto”, published in the Ípsilon supplement of the 10th, it is said that the Bando à Parte studio is an extension of the one that was founded in Guimarães, which no longer corresponds to reality: in 2018, BAP – Animation Studios became independent, in the form of a cooperative dedicated to animation.