“We believe that it will be very positive for the country if we can, within the framework of social dialogue, find a platform for agreement that allows any changes [to labor law] made to have the broadest possible consensus,” said the president of the CCP, João Vieira Lopes, following a meeting with the President of the Republic at the Palácio de Belém in Lisbon.
The CCP leader indicated that he has been in contact with both business confederations and trade unions and hopes that the social dialogue meeting on Wednesday “will be the start of a positive negotiating process.”
“We think it is a process that may take some time because these are sensitive issues,” but we are willing to make an effort to try to find consensus points, both in social dialogue and in bilateral meetings or working groups, added João Vieira Lopes.
When questioned about the criticisms from trade unions, who argue that the Government’s proposal undermines workers’ rights, the president of the CCP stated that “whenever these processes start, there are quite a few radical stances […] some out of conviction, others for ideological reasons,” but he reminded that “throughout history,” agreements have been possible.
“Several agreements have been made even in complicated periods, such as during the ‘troika’,” he emphasized.
The CCP believes that, in general, the proposals outlined in the Government’s draft “converge” with the demands of businesses “over the years,” such as the end of outsourcing restrictions or the return of the individual time bank, but admits that “some additional proposals may be made.”
The Government’s draft project for revising labor legislation will begin to be discussed with social partners on Wednesday in what will be the first social dialogue meeting following the proposal’s presentation, titled “Work XXI.”
Since then, bilateral meetings between the Government and social partners have been ongoing, as confirmed to Lusa by an official source from the Ministry of Labor.
The proposed changes by the executive aim to address areas from parental issues (including parental leave, breastfeeding, and gestational grief) to flexible work, company training, or the probation period of employment contracts, also foreseeing an expansion of the sectors covered by minimum services in the event of a strike, among others.
