The union center does not rule out new forms of struggle and does not close the door on moving forward with a new general strike in convergence with the UGT.
Workers from the north to the south of the country will demonstrate this Tuesday in Lisbon, in an action called by the CGTP and which culminates in the delivery of a petition to demand the withdrawal of the labor package.
The demonstration called by the trade union federation led by Tiago Oliveira will begin at 2:30 pm at Praça Luís de Camões, in Lisbon, and then head to the Assembly of the Republic.
Not final, a CGTP delegation will travel to the prime minister’s official residence, in São Bento, to deliver a petition with “tens of thousands of signatures” to demand the withdrawal of the draft revision of labor legislation.
In statements to Lusa, the secretary general of CGTP anticipated that there will be a “great concentration”, noting that this time no strike notices were issuedgiven that the action is centered on mobilizing the “structure” of the union center and “workers who are able to participate”.
“We cannot let what brought workers into the streets [na greve geral de 11 de dezembro] and the strength that the workers gave remains unanswered by the Government”, added Tiago Oliveira.
On December 11, CGTP and UGT carried out a general strike against the Government’s proposal, the fifth to bring together the two unions and which had not happened since the joint strike of June 27, 2013.
Since the draft was presented on July 24, CGTP has carried out several fighting actions to demand the withdrawal of the proposal.
New strikes are not ruled out
The Minister of Labor has reiterated that the CGTP has placed itself on the sidelines of the negotiations, while the trade union central rejects the criticism, indicating that the Government did not accept any of its proposals and “blocked” the discussion.
To Lusa, the CGTP leader reiterated that, Even if the Government does not withdraw the proposal, CGTP will remain at the negotiating table in the Social Concertation to give “voice to workers”.
Tiago Oliveira also said that the trade union center does not rule out new forms of struggle and that, given the position conveyed by the Government at the meeting with the Prime Minister or at the next Social Concertation plenary meeting, the date of which has not been set, “the CGTP will present to the workers the proposal it deems necessary to continue the struggle”.
And it does not close the door on moving forward with a new general strike in convergence with the UGT: “At the right time and when necessary (…) CGTP will make the contacts it needs to make. We do not refuse to discuss with anyone”, he concluded.
The meeting between the prime minister and the CGTP was postponed for the second time and is now scheduled for January 20, an official source from the union center told Lusa.
The proposal, called “Work XXI”, was presented on July 24 by the Government and has already received a ‘resounding no’ from trade unions, who argue that it is “an attack” on workers’ rights, while business confederations applauded the reform, even though they say there is room for improvement.
Faced with criticism from the two union federations, the Government handed the UGT a new proposal with some concessions, having reiterated that “it is not available to withdraw the entire proposal” and that it wants to maintain the “main goals”, even though it is open to dialogue and will give “more time” to the UGT to analyze the new proposal.
