On his first day touring communities hit by last summer’s wildfires, President Seguro has cut into the back-and-forth characterising the government’s attempts at labour reform, saying the country needs a “balanced agreement” and all parties should “return quickly” to the negotiating table.
In the village of Mourísia, in the union of parishes of Cerdeira and Moura da Serra, borough of Arganil, the new head of state told reporters: “I made an appeal, and I renew that appeal here: the country needs a balanced agreement on labour legislation.”
What this suggests (and what Seguro has said in the past) is that he doesn’t believe the current proposals are balanced – which is very much what unions and critics have said.
The president said that he knows nothing has been finalised yet: “”That is why I am renewing my appeal here for workers’ representatives, employers’ representatives and the government to quickly return to the negotiating table to find a solution that involves a balanced agreement between the parties (…) That is my wish.”
The draft “TrabalhoXXI” (Work 21) was presented by the government of Luís Montenegro (PSD and CDS-PP) last summer, and the Minister of Labour has signalled her intention to submit the bill to parliament, whether she gets social partner agreement or not.
During the presidential campaign, António José Seguro stated that he would not enact the changes to labour legislation as they stand for two reasons: one, labour reform “was not part” of the government’s electoral proposals and two, because “there was no agreement” with social partners.
At the time, Seguro stressed that “social dialogue is fundamental in modern societies to create predictability and stability” and that changes to rules should not have “ideological marks” but should be “associated with objectives”.
Source: LUSA
