After the cunion members have reached an understanding about holding a general protest strike against the reform of labor legislation proposed by the Government, with the UGT aligning with the CGTP, the presidential candidate supported by the PSD came out publicly to criticize the Prime Minister, who had accused these two unions of defending the interests PCP and PS supporters: more respect is needed for a union federation with a history of UGT’s “responsibility”, said Mendes, remembering that even during the difficult times of the troika, the UGT (affected by the PS) made an agreement with the government and the bosses.
“The Government has paid little attention to UGT and should give more, negotiate more with UGT and be more sensitive to issues coming from UGT, this is the recommendation I give to the government”, said Luís Marques Mendes in statements to journalists in Sobral de Monte Agraço, after, the previous day, having met with social partners, UGT and representatives of employers to talk about the proposed review of labor laws and the announced general strike of December 11th – the first in 12 years.
At night, in an interview with RTP, he would say the same thing again, adding that, even so, he thinks that an agreement is still possible, putting pressure on the Montenegro executive to make concessions to UGT. “AI think it will reinforce [a sensibilidade com a UGT]and in the end, with a strike or no strike, I think there will be an agreement on labor matters”he told journalist Vítor Gonçalves.
Following the announcement of the strike, Luis Montenegro he said that it was “incomprehensible” and that it “only served the interests of the PS and PCP”, in a statement that was poorly received by opposition parties and trade unions. “Frankly, I can’t see any other reason for this position taken by the trade unions than to look at interests that, from my point of view, should not be the prevailing ones, which is the interest of the parties that are, above all, linked to the management of the two trade unions”, stated Montenegro after learning that the UGT had also joined the CGTP in the protest movement. And he specified: “I’m talking about the Communist Party, which wants to show its existence through its trade union network in the CGTP, and I’m talking about the Socialist Party, which will also want to show its opposition political existence, taking advantage of some preponderance it has in the UGT”.
Numa reaction to these statements, a UGT accused the Government of, “after months of meetings [as propostas foram apresentadas em julho]keep the proposed revision of labor legislation unchanged”, and the CGTP recalled that the Executive has already said that it “will not give up on the main pillars” of the proposal, considering that “none of them is of interest to workers and all of them are of interest to employers”.
Marques Mendes therefore recommends more “respect” for the prime minister. Remembering that, unlike CGTP, UGT has been involved in several agreements between employers and government in the pastparticularly during the time of the troika, Marques Mendes reinforced that “it is not just any union federation”. “He has had a great sense of responsibility and deserves to be ttreated with different attention, respect, openness and with another balance on the part of the government”these.
And he warned: it’s not too late to “correct this”. Regarding the general strike, Marques Mendes said that it is “legitimate” and everything indicates that it will happen. A different thing is the ongoing negotiations, which must continue, with or without a strike. “The most important thing is social dialogue, until the strike and even after the strike. It is always better to make changes to the law with an agreement than without an agreement”, he concluded, especially because it gives laws more durability and allows for more social peace in companies, he added in an interview with RTP.
According to Marques Mendes, admiral and opponent Henrique Gouveia e Melo “jumped” when he said that he would veto the labor laws if he were PR, since the Government’s proposal has not yet been enacted into law – it is being negotiated in social consultation, then it will go to Parliament, where it will undergo changes, and only then will it be up to the PR to make a statement, he said in the same interview. The attacks on his opponent in the presidential race did not end there, with Marques Mendes saying that, in the same way that he himself would not be fit to lead a vaccination campaign, the admiral is not fit to be President: “Each person is for what they are, and we must be humble to analyze these questions“, he shot.
*Article updated with statements by Marques Mendes in an interview with RTP, broadcast at 9pm.