“We want not only to mobilize people and make them pay attention to the rights that could be taken away with this draft proposal, but also to show the government that we may be ten, we may be a thousand: we are voices rising,” said organizer Zaida Alves.
Zaida Alves, the proponent of the public petition “Unacceptable setbacks in the rights of women, mothers, and babies,” explained that the movement consists of a team of 24 people “not affiliated with any party or union.”
“We hope things will change, that the government will be willing to listen to people, to groups, and take our voices into account,” she stated.
Throughout her speech, attended by dozens of parents with children, Zaida Alves argued that this draft project “threatens essential achievements” and will increase precariousness.
Lawyer and protest organizer Mónica Fontiela Simões listed some of the proposals within this project that she believes haven’t been addressed, such as the weakening of the telework regime, collective bargaining, and the attack on the right to strike.
Mónica Fontiela Simões also warned about the risk of increasing service outsourcing and greater job insecurity, as well as the weakening of oversight.
On the sidelines, she explained that the gathering aims to show the government that workers disagree with these changes, which she said favor companies and employers.
“I think it could serve [to show the government] that workers are upset, disagree with the draft proposal, see their lives weakened, especially female workers, regarding breastfeeding time,” she stated.
“The draft proposal is much more than breastfeeding, more than gestational mourning: what the draft proposal represents is a setback for all workers, not just for breastfeeding mothers, or those with children, but for everyone,” she noted.
Margarida Mantas, a mother, went to the steps of parliament to contest what she described as “a great threat to all families.”
Beside her stood Sofia Teles, who said she saw her rights under attack.
“I see my rights under attack. One day I want to start a family, I want to have children, and I see the government taking away rights that were achieved with a lot of effort,” she said, accusing the executive of wanting to make layoffs easier.
Artur, who is in a situation of ‘false self-employment,’ said he is perplexed by the measures presented by the executive, considering that they will worsen workers’ lives.
CDU-backed presidential candidate António Filipe applauded the initiative and pointed out that the draft proposal presented by the government foresees “serious setbacks.”
“I would say that the right to work, which is a branch of law created to protect workers, the government is trying to turn into a branch to attack workers,” the former deputy told journalists.
Joana Mortágua, from the Left Bloc, who accompanied presidential candidate Catarina Martins, considered that this draft proposal “will increase insecurity and lower salaries in Portugal.”
“We should be discussing improving parental rights, increasing the number of days of parental leave,” lamented the former deputy, adding that “there are no rights in parenthood under insecurity.”
The proposed changes—called “Work XXI”—presented by the government on July 24 as a “profound” revision of labor legislation, target areas from parenthood (with changes in parental leave, breastfeeding, and gestational mourning) to flexible work, company training, or trial periods in employment contracts, and also foresee an extension of sectors required to provide minimum services in case of strikes.
At the press conference held after the Council of Ministers on July 24, when the draft reform was approved, the Minister of Labor, Solidarity, and Social Security stated that the aim is to make labor regimes “which are very rigid” more flexible, to increase “economic competitiveness and promote company productivity.”
