A general strike is coming, the first since the days of the troika

This scenario is taken for granted by UGT and CGTP, trade unions united against the Government’s labor reform proposal.

The General Confederation of Portuguese Workers — Intersindical Nacional (CGTP) and the General Union of Workers (UGT) are together against the Government’s proposal.

The project, called Labor XXI, has been criticized on several fronts; the Government is accused of taking away workers’ rights.

CGTP e UGT are therefore preparing a general strike. It will be the first since 2013, the times of the troika.

According to , the strike will take place in first half of December; and the general strike is already considered right, although talks with unions are still ongoing.

In fact, last week, Mário Mourão, general secretary of UGT, warned: “Between choosing a bad agreement or a fight in the streets, we choose the fight in the streets”.

O formal announcement of general strike could emerge in a few days.

In one signed by union leaders and former leaders, it is read that the labor reform proposal “undermines fundamental foundations of labor lawcollective contracting, the full exercise of the right to strike, the rights of working women, fathers and mothers, weakening labor relations, liberalizing dismissals in practice, creating the figure of the “eternal precarious” by allowing continuous fixed-term contracting for those who have never had a permanent contract”.

The same letter calls on union leaders and other social protagonists to understand each other and “lead to a general strike called by all unions and, in a unitary process, by the two Portuguese union centrals”.

This Saturday, CGTP is holding a national march against the labor package, bringing together workers from various parts of the country. It’s the second in three months.

On the Government side, the Minister of Labor, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, has already warned that conversations on social consultation will not drag on; guarantees that the project labor reform will really move forward.