At a campaign lunch in Sines, Setúbal district, Paulo Raimundo commenced by celebrating the party’s municipal election victory in October, following 12 years of Socialist Party (PS) governance. He focused his remarks on criticizing the recently approved State Budget for 2026, which passed with PS abstention, and the preliminary proposal to reform the Labor Code by the PSD/CDS-PP government.
The communist leader argued that the document serves “a small minority, large economic groups, and multinationals, who keep on bleeding resources dry,” alluding to a study indicating that Portugal is losing 2.9 million euros daily in taxes not collected from multinationals.
“For them, there are never any issues, never any concerns about public accounts, never cries of needing a surplus, or that funds are insufficient, never worries about deficits. For them, such rhetoric never exists,” he criticized.
Specifically, he asserted that Chega and IL “owe a debt of gratitude to the PS, which once again decided to support this Budget,” allowing these parties “to play the role of ‘victims,’ voting against a Budget with which they deeply agree.”
“This is a Budget that is part of a broader and deeper policy […]. A policy with a major component aimed at the so-called labor package,” he warned.
The communist leader cautioned that the Government will not relinquish three issues: “Increasing job insecurity, deregulating working hours, and increasing the possibility of dismissal without just cause,” he stated.
“Workers have the duty and obligation to harness all their strength, organize it, affirm their power, and fight against this labor package […]. This is what is being built towards a major, significant, and necessary general strike on December 11,” he urged.
For Paulo Raimundo, the strike, called by the two main unions, CGTP and UGT, concerns not only “defeating the labor package” but also “the fight against the lies, illusions, and propaganda” attributed to the PSD/CDS-PP government.
Among what he labeled as government lies, the PCP Secretary-General highlighted the narrative on pension increases.
“The Government claimed it raised all pensions for all retirees and pensioners. It’s true, and why? Because there is a law mandating raises. What an achievement. It would be absurd if the Government didn’t comply with the law,” he remarked, countering that retirees need “real increases” in their pensions.
Raimundo also described as “a lie as big as the world” the claim that retirees have free access to medications.
“The majority, the vast majority, do not have free access to medications; only a small percentage does,” he noted, referring to those benefiting from the Elderly Solidarity Supplement (CSI).
The communist leader also lamented the announcement that the retirement age will rise to 66 years and 11 months in 2027, based on data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
“For heaven’s sake, is 40 years of work with 40 years of contributions not enough to access a retirement and pension without further conditions? Don’t impose that people work until the very end of their days,” he appealed.
