CGTP, Portugal’s trades union confederation, is limbering up for a major demonstration against the government’s labour reform in Lisbon tomorrow.
The focus is on forcing the executive of Luís Montenegro to withdraw its controversial ‘labour package’ and start again.
CGTP secretary-general Tiago Oliveira has explained that part of tomorrow’s actions will see a petition, collected over the last three months, and signed by ‘tens of thousands of people’, delivered to the prime minister’s official residence at São Bento.
“‘We cannot allow what brought workers out onto the streets (in the general strike last month) and the strength that workers showed to go unanswered by the government,” he told Lusa – albeit – a little like the prime minister’s speech in Porto today – the government sought to downplay the effect of the general strike and suggest most workers support it.
Tomorrow’s demo takes place in front of parliament and ahead of a meeting between the CGTP and the prime minister/ minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, scheduled for Wednesday.
In Tiago Oliveira’s view: “the prime minister has to respond to what was a massive participation by workers in the general strike”, and accede to CGTP’s wishes.
“This is what has to be on the table, because this is what the workers demanded with the general strike”. The confederation is not prepared “to discuss one or two issues and allow all the others to pass”, he added.
Nonetheless, Minister of Labour (Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho) has not shown any enthusiasm for being persuaded to revise her package, nor for listening too closely to CGTP. Thus, the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting in São Bento is difficult to imagine. Certainly, the trade union confederation seems ready for “new forms of struggle” and has not closed the door to a possible ‘new general strike in convergence with (the more moderate) UGT’ (general union of workers).
Source: SIC Notícias/ LUSA
