This Thursday, the CGTP accused the Government and the employers’ confederations of being “hand in hand” in defending changes to the labor law, after yet another meeting of the Social Concertation ended without an agreement between the partners.
At the end of the meeting, the leader of the CGTP, Tiago Oliveira, stated that the Minister of Labor maintained the initial position presented in the preliminary project released on July 24 last year, insisting on a labor package that the union central considers “negative for the world of work”.
“We reached the end of the meeting with the minister stating, once again, that the version she always sought was her original version”, said the union leader.
Tiago Oliveira harshly criticized the proposals under discussion, pointing out measures that, according to CGTP, promote precariousness, facilitate dismissals and represent “an attack on trade union freedom and the right to strike”.
The union leader also criticized the employers’ confederations, using the song “Os Vampiros”, by Zeca Afonso, to describe the bosses’ position during the meeting. “It was like that song by Zeca Afonso, ‘Os Vampiros’, where everything is wanted and nothing is left for anyone else,” he said.
The CGTP also once again defended that the workers’ protest was decisive in halting the progress of the diploma over the last few months, highlighting the general strike held on December 11th.
“What conditioned this process was the workers’ struggle”stated Tiago Oliveira, guaranteeing that this mobilization will also determine the outcome of the labor changes.
In this sense, the union leader called for participation in the general strike scheduled for June 3arguing that “there is only one path to follow: the path of struggle”.
Despite the lack of understanding regarding Social Concertation, Tiago Oliveira acknowledged that the Government has already expressed its willingness to dialogue with parties with parliamentary representation, in an attempt to introduce changes to the diploma before discussion in the Assembly of the Republic.
Even so, CGTP guarantees that it will continue to put political pressure against the labor package, ensuring that it has already presented its position to the Prime Minister, the parties and the President of the Republic.
