“We had a conversation with the Government two or three days ago, during which a new proposal emerged,” stated Mário Mourão, expressing regret that the document only surfaced after announcing plans for a general strike on December 11, in conjunction with the CGTP.
“This document should have emerged a long time ago,” he criticized.
Though unwilling to detail the contents of the new Government proposal, which is still “under analysis” by the union center, the UGT Secretary-General noted that the changes involved “do not yet relate to parenthood matters,” where the Government had indicated willingness “to backtrack on some issues.”
The UGT announced over the weekend that it would proceed with a general strike on December 11, in alliance with CGTP, against the Government’s draft labor legislation reform.
The decision was approved today, unanimously and by acclamation, by the UGT’s General Council, following a proposal from the national secretariat.
At a press conference following these meetings, Mário Mourão reiterated that the union center will remain at the negotiating table.
“We will never close the door to negotiation,” he emphasized, insisting that the UGT prioritizes “dialogue, dialogue, dialogue.”
However, he issued a warning: “If negotiations fail, we must be prepared for strike action and struggle, naturally.”
When questioned about the prime minister’s statements that the general strike only serves the interests of the PCP and PS, Mário Mourão recalled that the UGT has “a 47-year history” and has signed agreements with PS or PSD governments (including last year’s).
“If party issues had entered this house, perhaps UGT would no longer exist today,” he concluded.
The Government’s draft project for labor law revision, currently under discussion with social partners in Social Concertation, foresees the revision of “more than a hundred” articles of the Labor Code.
The anticipated changes in the proposal—named “Work XXI” and presented by the Government on July 24 as a “profound” labor legislation review—aim to address areas from parenthood (with changes in parental leave, breastfeeding, and gestational bereavement) to flexible work, company training, or probationary periods of employment contracts, also providing an extension of sectors covered by minimum services in the event of a strike.
