The president of the SJ, Luís Simões, confirmed that the union will today submit a strike notice to the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity, and Social Security in Lisbon.
Luís Simões argued that this strike is crucial, stating, “This draft proposal gives everything to employers and includes several measures that heavily penalize workers.”
He highlighted that the new labor package “makes it more difficult for unions and individuals to identify fraudulent freelance contracts, facilitates dismissals, complicates the reintegration of professionals, and allows for the hiring of external services to replace dismissed workers.”
In a statement released today, the union further emphasized that the labor reform “reintroduces the hour bank, forcing an increase in working hours and weakening workers through individual negotiation, complicates access to telework, reduces protections for parental leave and miscarriage, and further undermines collective bargaining.”
Thus, the SJ demands the withdrawal of the legislative revision proposal presented by the government and the implementation of measures that safeguard journalists’ labor rights and the financial sustainability of the media, conditioning public support on compliance with existing collective bargaining agreements.
“This is a step backward, and that’s what drives us to join this strike,” concluded Luís Simões, stressing the need to show the government that this is not the right path.
“While acknowledging the media’s sustainability crisis, the government has ignored for years SJ’s proposals for financing public interest information,” the statement mentions.
The SJ reminds that the strike notice also covers all journalists seconded or requisitioned by third parties.
The general strike on December 11 against the government’s labor legislation reform draft will be the first to unite the two main trade union confederations, CGTP and UGT, since June 2013, when Portugal was under the intervention of the ‘troika’.
[Updated at 12:32 PM]
