Last year, 566 Collective Bargaining Instruments (IRCT) were published in Portugal, marking a 19.83% decline compared to the 706 released in 2023, according to the summary of the annual report on the evolution of collective bargaining for 2024, presented today by the Labor Relations Center of the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security (MTSSS).
The number of IRCTs published in 2023 was the highest since the series began in 2010, surpassing the figures recorded in that year (534 IRCTs), in 2019 (524 IRCTs), and in 2022 (505 IRCTs).
Of the 566 published last year, 293 pertain to collective agreements on the mainland (company agreements, collective agreements, and collective contracts), accounting for 51.8% of the total, according to calculations by Lusa.
The data also indicate a year-on-year decrease of 60% in the number of adhesion agreements on the mainland in 2024 (totaling 24), as well as a year-on-year decline of about 27% in the number of extension ordinances signed (86).
However, the number of workers covered by collective agreements and the working conditions ordinance rose by 25.72% compared to 2023, reaching 1,037,520.
This performance was mainly driven by collective contracts, with the number of covered workers growing by about 30% compared to 2023, to 842,269, and the number of workers covered by collective agreements increasing by about 25%, to 229,444, according to Lusa’s analysis.
Last year, one agreement to revoke a convention was published.
Regarding wage increases in collective bargaining, they continued to rise in 2024 compared to the previous year. In nominal terms, they grew by 7.3%, but in real terms, they increased by 2.7%.
