Lisbon, April 10, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal's prime minister, Luis Montenegro, said on Friday he expects to “fine-tune” positions and make decisions regarding the draft labour bill with government, union, and employers' representatives in the “coming days,” adding that the government would take the president's concerns into account.
"It is not worth expecting this process to drag on for long. What we can expect, and what I also expect, is that we can fine-tune positions and take the necessary decisions in the coming days," he said when journalists questioned him after a conference regarding the decision by the General Workers' Union (UGT) to reject the current draft labour law review.
He told journalists that he expects the negotiation process to conclude "soon."
"We are in a negotiation process with partners and will finish soon," he said, adding that the government would take a final decision on the proposal to be sent to parliament, which would then decide, and the president would then review the legislation.
Regarding the head of state’s campaign promise not to approve a proposal without UGT support, Montenegro said the government knows the positions of President António José Seguro.
"We are aware of the positions the president has expressed on this and, naturally, we know how to interpret and take them into consideration," he said.
The PM appealed for everyone to "make the maximum effort possible to bring positions closer, to converge, to reach consensus," and noted that an agreement requires "concessions from all sides."
"The government has shown its good faith and intention to reach an agreement throughout this process. All the partners have recognised this. Our expectation now is that this translates into a final agreement," he said.
The PM said the government is available "to fine-tune a final draft" around the principles discussed, and considered there was "a large majority of convergence" among the partners.
"I do not know the document submitted to the UGT, but I know the result of the negotiations, and some matters have an easy resolution," he said.
Montenegro insisted an agreement is still possible to increase support for the proposal but warned that parliament will make the final decision.
"Legislative competence belongs to parliament. In theory, there could be an agreement with the partners (i.e. the government, unions and employers) but the law approved by parliament could be completely different," he said.
Similarly, he said a law could pass parliament without any agreement between the partners.
Asked if he regrets saying it would be "unforgivable" for this government proposal not to have the agreement of partners, specifically the UGT, he replied negatively.
"On the contrary, I believe anyone who aims to have a more competitive, productive country that pays higher salaries will find it unforgivable not to take advantage of the convergence achieved between the partners," he said.
On 23 January 2026, between the first and second rounds of the presidential elections, then-candidate António José Seguro said he would not publish changes to labour legislation as they were because the issue "was not part" of the electoral proposals and there was "no agreement" between the partners.
On Thursday, the president said he would remain consistent with those statements.
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