Paulo Raimundo stated, “We are not going to fall for the trick the Government is trying to set up for us to comment on this. The Prime Minister [Luís Montenegro] needs to resolve the issue because it is in the Government’s hands,” following his visit to the Beja Volunteer Firefighters’ barracks.
The communist leader was responding to journalists regarding today’s statements by the PSD president, who suggested that a change in the law might be necessary to balance the right to strike with other rights.
“Luís Montenegro’s aim is to provoke reactions like, ‘Oh, he is going to attack the right to strike.’ But that’s not our focus. That’s just a distraction,” Raimundo remarked.
According to the PCP Secretary-General, both the Minister of Infrastructure and Luís Montenegro should focus on collaborating with CP and its workers to resolve the issue, rather than campaigning on this matter and prolonging the strike.
When asked about what could have been done to prevent the ongoing strike until May 14, Paulo Raimundo stated that CP could negotiate agreements with workers, contrary to the Government’s claim of inaction due to being in a caretaker role.
“This is the same Government that, while in a caretaker role, arranged or intends to arrange four billion euros for war and weaponry,” he noted.
He added, “Tell me if this isn’t another trick. It is, but not with us. We’ve been handling challenges like this for many years.”
Regarding the lack of minimum services in CP, which have been ensured in other strikes, Raimundo directed journalists to question Comboios de Portugal, stating, “We have nothing to do with that. You should ask CP, as I am from PCP, not CP.”
The CP strike, extended until May 14, is organized in protest against enforcing salary increases “that do not restore purchasing power,” demanding “collective bargaining for decent salary increases” and “the implementation of the salary table restructuring agreement as negotiated and agreed,” according to the unions.
The strike had significant impact from Tuesday onwards due to a larger number of unions (14) participating during these days.
By decision of the Arbitral Tribunal, these strikes do not include minimum services.
