Luís Montenegro stated today in a parliamentary debate that the general strike “doesn’t make sense” from the workers’ perspective, arguing that it is politically motivated and that labor law changes are merely “a pretext.”
“The Prime Minister continues to live in a bubble, detached from the reality of the majority of workers,” responded Tiago Oliveira in Guimarães, Braga district, when asked about Montenegro’s statements.
At the same debate, the Prime Minister expressed his intent to consider himself not as a union leader but as a “unionized worker” to decide whether to participate in the general strike called by UGT and CGTP for December 11.
“Will I strike because I’m earning less? No, I’m earning more. Will I strike because I’m paying more taxes on my work? No, I’m paying fewer taxes. Will I strike because my job is at risk? No, in the vast majority of cases, my job is not at risk,” Montenegro queried and answered.
The CGTP Secretary-General, present at worker meetings at Amtrol-Alfa Metalomecânica in the municipality of Guimarães, countered, stating that “the vast majority” of Portuguese workers live daily “with low wages, in a world of precariousness, deregulated work hours, increasing difficulties, and a brutal rise in the cost of living that can’t be sustained with their meager salary.”
“Therefore, what the Prime Minister is saying is limited to the bubble he lives in and doesn’t understand the scale of the response workers are staging in the streets to combat what the Government is trying to build,” remarked the union leader.
For the CGTP leader, this labor package “represents a significant setback for working people’s lives.”
“The Prime Minister needs to understand the scale that the general strike is gaining. And if the general strike is growing as it is, it’s because workers indeed want to fight this labor package. The Prime Minister and the Government need to withdraw this package,” emphasized Tiago Oliveira.
Regarding the Prime Minister’s assertion that the strike has political motivations, the CGTP Secretary-General considered such statements disrespectful to the millions of workers who will join the strike.
“If the Prime Minister believes that the vast majority of workers, by taking this step toward the general strike, are being led in a partisan manner, he is completely disrespecting millions of workers who want to fight for a better life. Is the strike political? A strike is always political. Is the strike necessary? The strike is necessary and urgent,” the union leader replied.
Concerning participation in the general strike, the CGTP leader is confident that “it will certainly be a significant general strike.”
“Everything from the contacts made indicates the need to demand the Government withdraw the labor package from the table. Workers need to understand one thing: within this labor package are a set of measures, all detrimental to the labor world, and they all indicate a political intention to increasingly exacerbate the inequalities between those with more and those with less. Therefore, we need to combat this labor package,” said Tiago Oliveira.
