The CGTP-IN leader made reference to Chega’s leader, criticizing those who are “always talking about minimum income and never talk about maximum income”. Tiago Oliveira asked workers to look at their working conditions and fight to improve it.
O general secretary of CGTP-IN This Monday, he appealed to workers to defeat, in the presidential elections, the “rhetoric that pits worker against worker” and that always blames the immigrant and never the boss, hoping that Seguro will fulfill his promises.
“Regarding the [eleições] presidential elections, we also leave here an appeal, an appeal to workers, to the world of work: we must defeat those who daily use a rhetoric of pitting worker against worker, who in their daily rhetoric the only thing they say is to blame those who have nothing, pitting those who have little against those who have little. We are fed up with this conversation”, appealed Tiago Oliveira, speaking to journalists at the headquarters of the union center, in Lisbon.
Despite never directly mentioning the name of André Ventura, who will contest the second round of the presidential elections on February 8th with António José Seguro, the leader of CGTP-IN made reference to Chega’s leader and candidate for Belém, criticizing those who are “always talking about minimum income and never talk about maximum income”.
“He who always blames the immigrant worker and doesn’t blame the boss, because at the expense of the immigrant worker, the salaries of all of us are not increased, which is always the same, which is the one who, in fact, earns the big profits. This rhetoric has to be combatted and we will be here to fight back”, he assured.
Tiago Oliveira asked workers to look at their working conditions and fight to improve it, highlighting that “all of us, regardless of where we come from, are workers”.
“We are all the ones who are needed every day so that nothing is missing in our lives and, therefore, this is what we need to combat, this dominant rhetoric that is out there trying to be created”, he criticized.
After a meeting with the national coordinator of the Bloco de Esquerda (BE), José Manuel Pureza, who said he hoped that the commitments on the Government’s draft amendment to labor legislation would be “for real”, Tiago Oliveira also stated that expects socialist António José Seguro to remain consistent with his statements during the campaign on the labor package, if he is elected head of state.
“António José Seguro himself says that this labor package is to be defeated. Now, what the CGTP hopes is that whoever uses these words in an electoral campaign will do so later, if the President of the Republic is elected”, he stated.
Tiago Oliveira recalled that, last week, the had a meeting with the Prime Minister and stated that at this meeting it was possible to “deconstruct some of the things that the Government has put on the table”.
“That the CGTP does not want to negotiate, that the CGTP does not dialogue, that the CGTP is intransigent. It has been the dominant rhetoric that the Government has placed in public opinion”, he lamented, criticizing that the day after the meeting the Minister of Labor stated in parliament that the executive “will not perpetuate” the discussion on labor legislation in social consultation, therefore, “if this dynamic does not prove to be fruitful”, it will present the proposal to the Assembly of the Republic.
Tiago Oliveira pointed out that the Government “knows perfectly what the content of this labor package is” and “how negative it is for the world of work”, but “there is a political agenda behind it.”
“But the Government is not counting on one thing, it is the workers’ struggle, and that is what is decisive. The workers carried out a major general strike on the 11th, and what the workers will want is the defeat of this labor package”, he stated, remembering that a national demonstration is called for the 28th of February in Lisbon and Porto.
Advising that the Government “looks at the majority”, Tiago Oliveira considered that the executive led by Luís Montenegro does not intend to reach understandings and he just wants to “get his agenda forward”.
