Montenegro "disrespected the workers and the UGT"

José Luís Carneiro, secretary-general of the Socialist Party (PS), accuses the Government of disrespecting the Portuguese people and workers regarding labor legislation and the decision of the two main trade unions to proceed with a general strike.

“The UGT cannot be useful when it supports the Government's intentions and, on the other hand, be offended when it disagrees with the Government's interests. From my point of view, this shows a rather undemocratic, intolerant vision, and even a lack of understanding of the historical significance of pluralism in trade union life,” the socialist leader stated to journalists in Almada this Tuesday.

Asked whether Prime Minister Luís Montenegro had disrespected the Socialist Party (PS) and the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) when he accused the trade unions of serving the interests of these parties by calling for the general strike, José Luís Carneiro replied: “More serious than that: he disrespected the workers and the UGT (General Union of Workers).”

On Monday night, in an interview with RTP, the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security considered the strike announcement "premature" given the negotiation phase. "It seems premature to me, not on the part of the CGTP, which has distanced itself from the negotiation, but on the part of the UGT to make this announcement, because we are sitting at the table negotiating," she said.

Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho rejected accusations that the dialogue within the framework of social consultation is "a facade," emphasizing that "all the rules" foreseen in the draft labor reform presented by the Government "are rules under construction, being improved, and are being built and improved with all the social partners."

Despite this, he also warned that the Government "is not willing to withdraw the entire proposal" and "would like to maintain the main lines" of the document.

The government's preliminary draft for the revision of labor legislation, designated "Work XXI," was approved by the Council of Ministers on July 24th. It aims to be a "profound reform" of labor legislation, altering "more than a hundred" articles of the Labor Code.

The proposed changes range from parental leave, with alterations to parental leave, breastfeeding leave, and bereavement leave after pregnancy, to flexible work, in-company training, and probationary periods for employment contracts. The end of the ban on outsourcing after dismissals and the expansion of minimum services during strikes are other controversial proposals.

A reform heavily criticized by unions, who initially considered it an "assault on workers' rights." The CGTP (General Confederation of Portuguese Workers) threatened a general strike early on if the government did not withdraw the proposed labor package. The UGT (General Union of Workers) did not rule out that option, but wanted to pursue negotiations first.

The agreement between the two trade union confederations was announced last Saturday, the day thousands demonstrated in Lisbon against changes to labor laws. It has been more than twelve years since the two confederations joined forces in a general strike, the last time being during the Troika period.