The UGT approved, on Thursday, the decision to move forward, in convergence with the CGTP, for a general strike on December 11, against the government’s draft reform of labor legislation. Meanwhile, the government says it is “open to dialogue” to prevent the stoppage.
The decision by the UGT was unanimously approved and acclaimed by the General Council of the General Union of Workers (UGT), upon the proposal of the national secretariat.
“The UGT made this decision after a series of meetings,” both bilateral and plenary within the scope of social dialogue “with the Portuguese government and employer partners,” stated the UGT’s secretary-general at a press conference, indicating that “conditions did not result” from these meetings to carry out “the proposals the UGT had.”
This will be the first stoppage to bring together the two union centrals since June 2013, at a time when Portugal was under the intervention of the ‘troika’.
The general strike was called by the CGTP in protest against the government’s draft for the revision of labor legislation, which is being debated with social partners and foresees the revision of “more than a hundred” articles of the labor code.
The UGT does not retreat and approved this Thursday the decision to proceed, in convergence with the CGTP, to a general strike on December 11, against the government’s draft labor reform legislation, it was announced today.
The government, on the other hand, noted that it is “open to dialogue” to prevent the general strike, arguing that the planned stoppage “does not serve the interests of the Portuguese people,” without wanting to address for now the possibility of minimum services.
“The Portuguese people want the dialogue to advance, they do not want the country to stop,” said the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, at a press conference after the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers, in which he defended that the executive has made “effective approaches” to the positions of the union centrals.
The minister stated that “the legislative procession is still in its early stages,” using an expression already used by the President of the Republic, and when asked if the government admits to decreeing minimum services at the general strike scheduled for December 11, he refused to address this topic for now.
“We are not going to escalate the language at a time when decisions are to be made, there are not even warnings yet, and we hope they will not exist,” he said.
Leitão Amaro never responded to the fact that some PSD leaders also have disagreements regarding the labor package being discussed in social dialogue – such as the president of the UGT and vice-president of the PSD, Lucinda Dâmaso, or the leader of the Social Democratic Workers, Pedro Roque.
“They asked me whom this strike serves, I assure you whom it does not serve: the Portuguese, who will be stranded at the train station, who will be stranded at the door of public services, who want to work and cannot, who want to leave their children to learn and cannot,” he pointed out, after the prime minister stated that the stoppage would only serve the partisan interests of PS and PCP.
On a similar note, the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, considers that there are no reasons at this time for a general strike in Portugal, following the stoppage called for December 11.
“There are no reasons for a general strike in Portugal, especially at a time when the country has many challenges to overcome. While it is important to stress that the claiming capacity is not in question, it is also important to say that it should be exercised with a sense of responsibility,” he warned.
The prime minister even classified as unprecedented the joint strike by UGT and CGTP-IN in the current situation of the country.
“There is a set of legislative changes at stake that are under discussion and formation. There is not even a final proposal. There is a draft that is on the negotiation table with all parties involved in social dialogue, particularly with employer entities and representative entities of workers,” he pointed out.
The government’s draft for revision of labor legislation, being debated with social partners, foresees the revision of “more than a hundred” articles of the labor code. Know, point by point, what is at stake.
