Trade unions are challenging the government’s draft proposal to simplify dismissals for just cause, questioning its constitutionality and describing it as an extreme reduction in workers’ rights.
“This is totally unacceptable,” stated Ana Pires of the Executive Committee of CGTP-IN.
The labor federation asserts that “employers already find it easy to dismiss workers, contrary to the repetitive claims that labor laws are very rigid. It is easy and inexpensive to terminate employment in our country, and successive legislative changes have been moving in this direction,” noted the union leader.
Pires emphasized that the proposed removal of the requirement for evidence or witness hearings in dismissal processes for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises—which make up 99.6% of Portuguese businesses—moves beyond simplification to what is “facilitating dismissals.”
“It essentially becomes a situation where you can dismiss a worker without having to listen to witnesses, without considering the opinion of the Workers’ Commission or the union to which the worker belongs. And that’s it, the worker lacks the means to defend themselves and gets fired,” she argued.
Pointing out that workers would then have the option to go to court, Pires noted that the government’s labor package introduces “a series of rights assaults that impose even further limitations,” particularly regarding the reinstatement of workers in cases of wrongful dismissal.
“What is at stake here, concerning a job and a dismissal, is the ability of the worker to sustain their life. It concerns survival, the salary they earn to pay their bills and eat. There should be no shortcuts. During a disciplinary proceeding, there must be opportunities for defense. This is a matter of elementary justice and common sense,” she asserted.
Similarly, the UGT rejects what it calls an “increase in discretionary power” for companies to “gratuitously act individually against a worker.”
“When a company aims to restructure, it cannot successfully increase its competitiveness or productivity through enhanced discretionary power acting gratuitously against a worker. It’s through collective, negotiated instruments that progress is made,” commented UGT executive secretary Carlos Alves.
Arguing that the proposal is “more ideological than necessary,” the UGT emphasized, “When a company intends to restructure, it does not need to select and dismiss workers individually. A collective dismissal process is already in place for this purpose, and in Portugal, it’s more flexible than in most countries.”
“This proposal simply attempts to tilt the balance of power, targeting the core of labor rights and workers’ lives—the security in their jobs,” it accused.
The UGT suggests that the Constitutional Court should evaluate potential constitutional issues, maintaining that this and other rules in the government’s draft “seem unconstitutional or verge on unconstitutionality,” a view shared by CGTP, which hopes these measures will be retracted before constitutional questions arise.
“This is the work we will conduct, not only in upcoming social dialogue discussions but also by mobilizing workers, informing them, and preparing them to take their stand against these measures,” Pires said.
Overall, both trade unions view the government’s labor package as an “assault on workers’ rights,” affecting areas from work hours to precarious employment, blocking collective bargaining, facilitating contract termination, and attacking union freedom and the right to strike.
“Ultimately, we are discussing deregulating the labor market and the relationship between employer and worker,” said the UGT executive secretary, adding that “since the ‘troika’ era, there hasn’t been such a systematic attack on a fundamental principle of labor law and the Constitution, which is employment security.”
