“I believe that if there is a person responsible for this general strike, it is the Prime Minister and his Government, as they are advancing with a proposed change in the labor resolution that deserves widespread repudiation from the workers,” stated António Filipe during a campaign event in the district of Aveiro.
The presidential candidate supported by the PCP noted that if the Government wishes to avoid the general strike, it should withdraw the proposed change to labor organization, considering it “a severe setback concerning labor legislation, which already weakens the position of workers significantly.”
“I think workers have more than enough reason to resort to extreme forms of protest, such as striking. It is no coincidence that this strike has such significant support from the unions,” he stated.
António Filipe further emphasized that it is the workers who strike, asserting that the unions, as their representatives, “have the legal authority to call the strike and issue the advance notice.”
“The notion that workers are being manipulated into striking is utterly absurd because it is not the unions that strike; it is the workers. If workers are not determined to resort to forms of protest, the unions calling for strikes will not make a difference,” he added.
António Filipe was speaking to journalists upon entering the Crasto canteen at the University of Aveiro, where he had lunch with university students and later met with the Academic Association of the University of Aveiro.
In the afternoon, the candidate travels to Espinho to visit the International Animated Film Festival Cinanima, which runs from November 7 to 16, and concludes the day in Ovar with a dinner with supporters.
