UGT approves general strike. Montenegro must “question” why

The strike on December 11th will even involve the participation of the two largest unions. Carneiro leaves questions.

A UGT approved the decision to move forward, in line with the CGTP, for a general strike in , against the Government’s draft reform of labor legislation, was announced today.

The decision was approved this Thursday by unanimity and acclaim by the General Council of the General Union of Workers (UGT), following a proposal from the national secretariat.

“UGT took this decision after a cycle of meetings”, whether bilateral or plenary within the scope of social consultation “with the Portuguese Government and employer partners”, stated the secretary general of UGT, in a press conference, indicating that these meetings “did not result in conditions” to carry out “the proposals that UGT had”.

This will be the first strike to bring together the two unions, since June 2013, when Portugal was under intervention by the ‘troika’.

Mário Mourão also recalled that when there is a strike “there is always impacts on income” and said that the UGT did not want to make this decision, but was forced to do it.

“UGT’s impediment to going on this strike is in the hands of the remaining partners, it is not in our hands”, he stressed.

In the resolution approved by the national secretariat, the UGT argues that the Government’s proposal was presented “out of time, in a context of economic growth, financial stability and the strength of the labor market” and considers that this is “a violation of the spirit of social dialogue, as it represents a clear option in favor of employers, cutting workers’ rights and harming the activity of unions”.

“It’s very little”

The general secretary of UGT said that, after the announcement of the general strike, “a new proposal” from the Government on labor reform, but warned that is “very little” to cancel the stoppage.

“We had a conversation with the Government two or three days ago, in which a new proposal already emerged”, stated Mário Mourão, regretting that the document only appeared after announcing that they were going to move forward with the general strike.

“This document should have appeared a long time ago“, he criticized.

Despite not wanting to detail the content of the Government’s new proposal, which is still “under analysis” by the union center, the UGT general secretary said that it is not enough to call off the planned strike.

“There is still no matter on the table that would make UGT comfortable calling off the strike,” he warned. “It’s very little,” he insisted.

Montenegro’s first question

The general secretary of the PS, José Luís Carneiroargued this Thursday that labor reform offends workers’ rights, challenging the Prime Minister and the Government to question the seriousness of this proposal that leads to a general strike.

“Us [PS] We have already said that the proposal for labor legislation presented by the Government offends, in a serious waythe rights of the most young people workers, the rights of women workers, the rights of families and also the most vulnerable”, criticized the socialist leader.

Speaking to journalists, in Alcácer do Sal, in the district of Setúbal, on the sidelines of a meeting with the farmers’ association of that municipality on the Alentejo coast, José Luís Carneiro recalled that he was “the first party leader to speak about these matters” of the new labor package, on August 13th.

And, he continued, “in due course, [o PS fez] an appeal to the Government to answer what I was doing.”

Because, for the socialist leader, “the first question the prime minister has to ask himselfand what you have to do to your Government, That’s why, after so long, the two unions decided to go on strike together?”

“And perhaps in the question lies the answer to the question that many will be asking today”, that is, “after all, how serious is that proposed law to bring the two unions together in the same general strike”, he added.

“Open doors”

Before the UGT announcement, the Government indicated that he is “open doors” to dialogue to avoid a general strike, arguing that the planned strike “it does not serve the interests of the Portuguese”, without even wanting to address the hypothesis of minimum services.

“The Portuguese want dialogue to advance, they don’t want the country to stop”, said the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, at the press conference after the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers, in which he argued that the executive has made “effective approaches” to the positions of the unions.

The minister argued that “the legislative procession is still going to the churchyard”, using an expression already used by the President of the Republic, and, when asked whether the Government admits decreeing minimum services in the general strike scheduled for December 11th, he refused to address this topic for now.

“We will not escalate the language at a time when there are decisions to be made, there is not even advance notice, and we hope that there will not be any,” he said.

Leitão Amaro never responded to the fact that some PSD leaders also had differences regarding the labor package under discussion in the social consultation – such as the president of the UGT and vice-president of the PSD Lucinda Dâmaso or the leader of the Social Democratic Workers, Pedro Roque.

“They asked me who this strike is for, I guarantee you who does it not serve: to the Portuguese, who will be stuck at the train station, who will be stuck at the door of public services, who want to work and can’t, who want to leave their children to learn and can’t”, he pointed out, after the Prime Minister stated that the strike would only serve partisan interests of PS and PCP.