In Braga, during a dinner with party members, Paulo Raimundo accused Luís Montenegro of “shamelessness” and “hypocrisy.”
“The Prime Minister had the audacity to say that if the labor package goes forward, Portugal can grow by 3, 4, 5, 6 percent, and the minimum wage will reach 1,500 or 1,600 euros. This is mocking those who work, because the Prime Minister knows well that workers with precarious jobs, those in precarious conditions, earn on average 20% less than other workers”, he stated.
For the leader of the PCP, the proposed changes to labor laws will “generalize precariousness for all workers.”
He therefore considered that talking about raising the national minimum wage to 1,500 or 1,600 euros “in the wake” of legislative changes “is an affront, a disrespect, and an added reason to fight the labor package.”
On Friday, Luís Montenegro had suggested taking the opportunity of possible changes in labor laws to raise the minimum wage to 1,500 euros and the average to 2,000 or 2,500.
By Saturday, he increased the targets to a minimum wage of 1,600 euros and an average of 3,000 euros.
To Paulo Raimundo, the intended alterations to the labor package represent “a brutal attack on overtime hours.”
“It’s an affront to workers, a disrespect to them,” he added, accusing PSD, CDS, Chega, and Iniciativa Liberal of wanting “more flexitime, more work hours, more unpaid overtime, more deregulation of schedules, cuts to overtime pay, more temporary contracts, more false self-employment, more subcontracting, more attacks on mothers and fathers, and dismissals without just cause.”
Therefore, the communist leader called for strong participation in the general strike on December 11 to fight against the labor package.
He admitted the package “will not be defeated” on that day and “the struggles will have to continue,” but emphasized that the general strike will be “an important moment” to show discontent.
“It is each person’s life that is at stake,” he further commented.
The Prime Minister and PSD President, Luís Montenegro, today increased salary goals for the country, now speaking of a minimum wage of 1,600 euros and an average of 3,000 euros, a day after mentioning lower figures.
Lusa | 19:28 – 06/12/2025
