The CGTP and UGT have announced a general strike for December 11 against the government’s proposal, marking the first joint stoppage since June 2013, when Portugal was under the ‘troika’ intervention.
The Authority for Working Conditions (ACT) states that the “employer cannot, during the strike, replace the strikers with people who, at the date of the prior notice, did not work in the respective establishment or service, nor can they, after that date, hire new workers for that purpose.”
Furthermore, “The task performed by the worker on strike cannot, during this period, be carried out by a company specially contracted for this purpose, unless the fulfillment of indispensable social needs or the necessary services for the safety and maintenance of equipment and facilities is not guaranteed.”
What obligations arise for trade unions and workers during the strike?
According to the ACT, “in companies or establishments that are intended to meet indispensable social needs, the trade unions and workers are required to ensure, during the strike, the provision of the minimum essential services needed to meet those needs, as well as the services necessary for the safety and maintenance of equipment and facilities.”
The last time CGTP and UGT called for a joint general strike was more than ten years ago, during the troika period. On December 11, another stoppage will take place. What is the impact on workers who join the strike?
The ACT considers companies or establishments intended to meet indispensable social needs those that include some of the following sectors:
- Postal and telecommunications services;
- Medical, hospital, and pharmaceutical services;
- Public health, including funerals;
- Energy and mining services, including fuel supply;
- Water supply;
- Firefighters;
- Public service that ensures the satisfaction of essential needs that are the responsibility of the state;
- Transport, including ports, airports, train stations, and bus terminals, related to passengers, animals, perishable foodstuffs, and goods essential to the national economy, covering the respective loading and unloading;
- Transport and security of monetary values.
It should be emphasized that “the strike is a right of workers, who have the authority to define the scope of interest to defend – a right that is inalienable.”
“The decision to resort to a strike is made by trade unions. Worker assemblies can also decide to resort to a strike by secret ballot, provided that in the respective company, the majority of workers are not represented by trade unions and that the assembly is expressly called for this purpose by 20% or two hundred workers,” the ACT explains further.
During the stoppage, “the workers on strike will be represented by the association, trade unions, or a commission elected for this purpose if the worker assemblies decide to resort to a strike.”
The CGTP has just delivered the general strike notice to the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity, and Social Security, scheduled for December 11.
