Lisbon, Aug. 20, 2026 (Lusa) - The UGT said on Thursday that the sustainability of the social security system «must remain connected» to the guarantee of decent pensions and questioned the impact of the proposal on individual accounts on future pensions.
In a statement, the trade union confederation states that the report by the working group set up to study Social Security reform «constitutes a significant technical contribution to the debate on the future of the pension system», but said that «any structural change must be preceded by a rigorous assessment of its impact on current and future pensioners».
For the UGT, the financial sustainability of the social security system «is essential»; however, «it must remain connected to the adequacy of benefits, the protection of rights and the guarantee of decent pensions».
«It is not enough for us to know whether the system balances the books. We need to know whether it ensures a decent pension to those who have worked and contributed throughout their lives», said the UGT's general secretary, Mário Mourão, as quoted in the statement.
Among the proposals, the UGT «welcomes the safeguarding of pensions currently in payment and of rights already accrued», but seeks clarification on the impact of the proposal regarding the transition to a model of individual accounts for each worker «on the value of future pensions».
«Before any decision is taken, the UGT advocates the presentation of clear simulations for different salary levels, contribution histories and worker profiles,» he points out.
Regarding the working group's criticism—which claims there is an incorrect interpretation of the balances of the General Pension Fund (CGA) and the Social Security system, and argues that «the correct analysis would be a joint analysis» of the two systems—the UGT points out that the State decided to close the CGA to new subscribers.
It warned that «the resulting liabilities should remain with the state and should not justify any reduction in entitlements», arguing that the debate on the system's sustainability «should focus more closely on the revenue side», particularly in terms of employment and wage data.
«Stable contribution histories, tackling informality and diversifying funding sources are equally crucial to the system's balance,» it added.
With regard to supplementary schemes, the trade union confederation «recognises that they can help to boost retirement income», but stresses that «they must remain supplementary and always complement the public system, given the inequalities in workers' ability to save».
Noting that the social partners were «overlooked» during the drafting of the report, the UGT nevertheless commended the reference to the need for political and social consensus and reaffirmed that any government proposal must be discussed, from the outset, through social dialogue.
The UGT stressed that it «will await the positions the government takes and when it takes them», reiterating that it will fight for a «public, universal and solidarity-based social security system that is sustainable and capable of saying ‘decent pensions' for the workers of today and tomorrow» and calling for a «serious discussion» conducted with «responsibility and social peace».
The government set up a working group to «propose measures aimed at reforming Social Security», led by the economist and professor at Universidade Nova, Jorge Bravo.
The report was submitted to the government in July and presented on Tuesday; amongst various proposals, it suggests revising the penalty for early retirement, creating new retail-segment public debt instruments to supplement pensions, or adopting occupational pension schemes with automatic enrolment, which allow for opt-out.
Following the presentation of the document, the government reiterated that it will not proceed with a structural reform of the social security system during this parliamentary term and noted that the report is a further contribution to the public debate on the subject JMF/ADB // ADB.
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