Manuel de Almeida / LUSA
The general secretary of the General Workers Union (UGT), Mário Mourão
UGT unanimously rejects. “It’s hard to believe that something will come to fruition”. It will not be a quick process.
“UGT has always been an organization of dialogue and consultation, it has always been guided by not escaping its responsibilities to defend workers, to respond to unions. Today was a very intense debate from which UGT emerged much stronger and prepared to face complicated situations.”
But, once again, the General Union of Workers (UGT) rejected unanimously the proposal for labor reform of the Government.
Mário Mourão, general secretary of UGT explained that “he hopes the Government will say whether it wants to continue making a effort so that there can be an agreement or consider that closes Here’s the discussion. It is the Minister (of Labor) who has to decide”.
The possibility for companies to resort to outsourcing after collective layoffs, the hour bank individual ea non-integration of an employee who has been illegally dismissed remain “red lines”.
The draft ““, with a view to reforming the world of work, was presented by the Government on July 24, 2025.
There are more than 100 changes to the Labor Code that, exactly 9 months later, they are still being traded.
Now, minister Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, reinforcing that “all that is missing is the ratification of the UGT in its bodies”, has called for a meeting of social consultation for the day May 7th.
In other words, it will be another two weeks of patience: “I think it’s everyone is very fed up with this process. Everyone is out of patience and now everyone will basically be fed up and out of patience by May 7th”, reacted Ana Salez.
The commentator on the radio sees a UGT pressed and “passing the buck” to the Government, while the Government says it accepts dialogue but that now the ball belongs to UGT.
“There are many episodes of something that one day is a sitcomother days it’s a dramatic series – many of them already quite repetitive. And what is most noticeable here is the tiredness, which is also not good for negotiations.”
Ana Sanlez predicts that, from now until May 7th – and with April 25th and May 1st in between – nothing will happen.
“But I still think that the UGT doesn’t have much to gain. It is being pressured from all sides, including from Belém (and I think there should be no one other than António José Seguro lighting candles for there to be an agreement), it is pressured by the prime minister, it is pressured by the bosses”.
And, if UGT does not accept the document, “You may not like what comes out of Parliamentbecause it will place labor legislation, in practice, in the hands of a right-wing majority”.
Overall, “it’s hard to believe that something will come to fruition”, analyzes Ana Sanlez. It won’t be a quick process.
