Lisbon, March 10, 2026 (Lusa) - The secretary-general of the Portuguese Communist Party, Paulo Raimundo, said on Tuesday that the PSD/CDS government's draft bill to amend labour legislation "has been defeated" and that it is "not worth" the government insisting on it.
"Not only has it been rejected, it has been defeated, and it is not worth the government insisting on this labour package, which is the government's, but it should be noted that it is also Chega's and the Liberal Initiative's and serves the employers. It has been rejected, it's over. Withdraw it," argued Paulo Raimundo, speaking to journalists at the PCP's national headquarters in Lisbon after a meeting with a BE delegation, at the request of the Bloc.
A day after negotiations on the government's draft bill failed in social consultation, Paulo Raimundo considered that this package has been rejected and "has only one outcome, which is its withdrawal".
"It wasn't even necessary to have the outcome we had yesterday [Monday] at the social gathering to reach this conclusion, but yesterday was the end, it's over. The government has to accept defeat, the strength and unity of the workers defeated the labour package. Full stop, end of story. There's no point in wasting any more time on this," he said.
Asked about the criticism from André Ventura's party of the government's intentions in this matter, Raimundo replied that perhaps the government is determined to "confront Chega with its daily contradictions".
"If the government wants to insist and try to impose it, with or without the help of some demagoguery and “troca-tintismo” from Chega, if it wants to go down that road, it will. But it will have to accept the consequences of trying to impose a labour package that has been rejected," he warned.
As for whether he expects the President of the Republic, António José Seguro, to reject this bill if it reaches Belém, after having assured that he would not enact changes to labour law without agreement in social consultation, Raimundo considered that "there is no need" for the head of state "to be confronted with legislation that is defeated and rejected from the outset".
"It's just to waste our time, and if there's one thing we can't do, it's waste time," he appealed.
Paulo Raimundo also stressed that "the country may be on the cover of The Economist [magazine] twice a month," but if this happens "at the expense of the lives of the majority of those who work to make the country function, those who create wealth, that wealth that is created and so poorly distributed, it is worthless."
"We are dealing with work, work is a fundamental issue in society, and no society can develop by attacking workers, particularly the youngest," he stressed.
The draft bill entitled "Work XXI" was presented by the Government of Luís Montenegro (PSD and CDS-PP) on 24 July 2025, and the Minister of Labour has already signalled her intention to submit the bill to parliament, although she has not committed to a date.
Regarding the meeting with the BE delegation, requested by the party leadership elected in November last year, led by José Manuel Pureza, Paulo Raimundo rejected the idea that the PCP had agreed to it out of mere courtesy, and recalled that about two years ago there had already been meetings at the request of the BE - at the time, with Mariana Mortágua as coordinator.
The communist leader emphasised that the two parties are in daily contact in parliament, where there is "a long tradition of convergence on fundamental issues".
"This meeting is a continuation of that and allows us to take stock of how we see things, how we are doing and what needs to be done. And I would like to emphasise here the great convergence we had on what needs to be done, which is to encourage, mobilise and go as far as possible on the social front of the struggle," he stressed.
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