The Secretary-General of the Socialist Party engaged in a discussion on Thursday concerning Social Security, as part of preparations for the electoral program for the upcoming elections.
“The Socialist Party [PS], at least in Portugal, has never disconnected from the world of labor, workers’ rights, nor from the consolidation and defense of social security. It is a heritage we have and wish to preserve,” he stated during this morning’s meeting.
“If we are in an economically good phase – as we were, even better, a year ago – the truth is there are now signs in our economy that should make us cautiously assess the current situation,” he added, noting that there has been a slowdown in employment growth and wages, among other areas. “And we had a record number in 2024, in recent years, of collective dismissals – except for 2020. We cannot celebrate prematurely. I often look at the speeches of this Government’s members and become concerned because they fail to grasp reality,” he highlighted, pointing out not only insolvencies but also the “dissolution of companies,” the latter having increased by 48%.
“If unemployment remains at a low level, youth unemployment is rising,” he noted, emphasizing the need for caution and attention to the current situation.
The Socialist also asserted that the Social Democratic Party governments have certain “temptations,” accusing them: “In these 10, 11 months, they have yet to achieve what is always their project, but the discourse on the rigidity of the labor market has returned.”
The Socialist warned of signals from PSD executives indicating a “temptation” to “reduce the rights of workers.”
“We have a duty to alert to the risks concerning our public pension system and our social security system, one of our people’s most significant achievements after April 25th, which are at risk with an AD Government,” he stated.
To substantiate this reform, according to the PS Secretary-General, the PSD/CDS-PP government has been “dramatizing and fostering fear about the sustainability of Social Security.”
“We do not partake in dramatization, which does not mean we are not engaged in an important debate about the future of Social Security, notably the diversification of funding sources that we began in the past with José António Vieira da Silva,” he remarked, with the former minister sitting beside him.
On Wednesday, Pedro Nuno Santos discussed the topics of health and housing, noting that the latter had not been approached in the
