“The minister is not tired, the minister is concerned about the extent of the strike,” responded Paulo Raimundo to journalists when asked about recent statements by the Minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security, Rosário Palma Ramalho, who expressed fatigue with strikes having political motives.
For the PCP Secretary-General, “the more the minister speaks, the more the prime minister speaks, the more defenders of the labor package speak, and the more workers understand the content of the labor package – more precariousness, more regulation of working hours, more dismissals – the greater the general strike will be.”
Paulo Raimundo emphasized that the minister “is concerned and has reasons for it,” but “has a simple way to resolve her concern”: “remove the labor package from discussion, because there is no discussion possible.”
The PCP Secretary-General spoke to journalists on the sidelines of a visit to Santa Maria Secondary School in Sintra, part of the national action “Another direction for the country. Reject the labor package, exploitation, and injustices.”
Paulo Raimundo highlighted the need to value education, teachers, and their careers, as well as to solve the “dramatic problem” of more teachers leaving the workforce than entering.
“The labor package is bad for all workers, including teachers,” defended Paulo Raimundo.
The general strike on December 11 was announced by the Secretary-General of the CGTP, Tiago Oliveira, at the end of the national march against the labor package on November 8, which led thousands of workers to march down Liberty Avenue in Lisbon, protesting against the proposed changes by the Government of Luís Montenegro.
Days later, the UGT unanimously approved the decision to move forward in convergence with the CGTP, thus including the favorable vote of the Social-Democratic Workers (TSD).
This will be the first stoppage to bring together the two trade union centers since June 2013, when Portugal was under a ‘troika’ intervention.
The proposed changes by the Government, presented on July 24 as a “profound” revision of labor legislation, intend to revise more than a hundred articles of the Labor Code, covering areas from parenthood (with changes in parental leave, breastfeeding, and gestational mourning) to flexible work, company training, or the probationary period of employment contracts, and also foresee an expansion of the sectors that will be covered by minimum services in the event of a strike.
