The Minister of Labor said today that she is convinced that the general strike will indeed go ahead, but classified the strike as “untimely”, stressing that it must be a solution of last resort, since it is “a harmful institute”.
The CGTP and the UGT decided to call a general strike for December 11th, in response to the draft law to reform labor legislation, presented by the Government.
“The Government always hopes that the UGT can retreat, but it also understood or confirmed that there is little room for retreat on the part of the UGT. Therefore, it will certainly happen. I am convinced, unfortunately, because it is a strike that seems inopportune to us”, stated the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, in an interview with RTP.
The Labor portfolio holder highlighted that UGT has been a partner that has “negotiated a lot” with the Government on the draft in question and added that the negotiation environment is one of cordiality, despite CGTP “never signing anything”.
Asked whether there might be a concession on the part of the Government, the minister said she thought there would not be enough time for this, noting that the UGT itself had already stressed that the decision had been made.
Even so, he said that the draft labor reform was presented and constructed in “good faith”.
Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho also considered that the strike should be a last resort and classified this mechanism as a “harmful institution”, warning of the social impact of the strike, particularly in sectors such as health or transport.
Regarding the economic impact of this general strike, the minister declined to give figures and recalled that “one thing is the call for the strike, another is adherence”.
In particular with regard to youth unemployment, the government official argued that the rate is “very high” and pointed out that the changes planned for fixed-term contracts were also created with young people in mind.
According to current legislation, a young worker, with an open-ended contract, “theoretically more stable”, can see their contract terminated, without the right to compensation, after five months and 29 days, the minister explained, clarifying that this “is a more precarious solution than a fixed-term contract”.
The Government’s proposal foresees that these contracts will have a minimum duration of one year and can be renewed up to three times.
Another topic on the table was the time bank, which Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho said was an important and advantageous solution for companies and workers.
“Many workers consider it beneficial because they can say: I can’t go today, I have to take my son to the doctor or I have to take my mother to the doctor and the employer gets that credit”, he explained.
The general secretary of UGT, Mário Mourão, considered the hearing that took place today in São Bento with the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and the Minister of Labor “quite constructive”, but “the strike will continue”.
Both UGT and the Government showed their willingness to “continue working to find common ground to see whether or not there is room for an agreement”, said Mário Mourão at the end of the meeting that lasted more than an hour.
After the announcement of the general strike, the Ministry of Labor delivered a new proposal to the UGT, with some changes to the draft presented in July, but which the union central said was “too little” to cancel the strike.
In the document, the Government concedes on matters such as simplifying dismissals in medium-sized companies or reducing the number of mandatory training hours in micro-enterprises, opening the door to the restoration of the three days of vacation linked to attendance abolished in the troika, among others, but maintains some measures that are highly criticized by trade unions, such as the return of the individual time bank or the repeal of the rule that provides for restrictions on ‘outsourcing’ in the event of dismissal.