“The labor legislation, currently proposed under the title Trabalho 21 by the Government, in our view, is an ideological obsession that lacks backing in situations like those experienced during difficult times in Portugal,” stated Mário Mourão to journalists after receiving the PS Secretary-General, José Luís Carneiro, at the UGT headquarters in Lisbon.
The union leader expressed concern over this Government proposal appearing in the Social Dialogue, despite Portugal’s growing economy and low unemployment levels.
“It seems more like settling scores with the decent work agenda than a desire to reform labor legislation so that the country can respond within the European space it is part of,” Mourão argued.
Mário Mourão questioned whether the Government stands willing to negotiate and engage in dialogue with union social partners.
“The Government, at the negotiation table, took one side of the reconciliation, but even so, we will not back down, we will insist on negotiation and dialogue,” he assured.
If some proposals persist, the union leader warned that “UGT will not be counted on to reach any agreement.”
“What is left for us? UGT has the streets, it has the fight, it has its unions, and naturally, will determine actions and measures against these measures and this labor package,” he projected.
The UGT Secretary-General alerted to the “difficult moment for Portuguese workers” with this proposal.
“We are facing not a reform in labor legislation, but a civilizational rupture. A regression that Portugal has not seen since April 25,” he cautioned.
Mário Mourão also appealed to young people not to “abandon Portugal” and to fight “with their unions and their representatives” to change the situation and the “generational regression” the Government intends to impose.
The Government’s draft for revising labor legislation, set to be debated with social partners starting Wednesday, proposes revising “over a hundred” articles in the Labor Code.
The proposed changes, named “Trabalho XXI,” presented by the Government on July 24 as a “profound” review of labor legislation, target areas from parenthood (including parental leave, breastfeeding, and gestational mourning) to flexible work, company training, or the trial period for work contracts. It also foresees an extension of sectors required to adhere to minimum service levels in case of strikes.
At the press conference following the Council of Ministers on July 24, when the reform draft was approved, the Minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security stated that the aim is to make labor regimes, “which are very rigid,” more flexible to boost “economic competitiveness and promote company productivity.”
