Lisbon, March 20 2025 (Lusa) - The Works Council of Portugal's state-owned savings bank, Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD), has sent a letter to the minister of finance calling for workers to be made non-executive directors the next time there are elections for the bank's governing bodies.

In the letter to Joaquim Miranda Sarmento to which Lusa has had access, the body asks him "to consider the application of the constitutional precept regulated in the Labour Law, which allows workers to sit as non-executive directors on the CGD Board of Directors for the 2025-2028 term, the process of which the CGD CT is aware has been opened and is underway.

"In view of the statements made by the CEO of CGD to the media in December 2024 on matters relating to the term in question, as well as the termination of the previous mandate, which requires the proposal of a new Board of Directors for the state-owned bank, the matter in question has become an issue of increased and important importance for CGD workers," the letter continues.

In the text, the council states that the bank's employees "continue to be part of the solution and have never been or are not an obstructing or blocking force to the management appointed by the government, however they always have some contributions to make and matters to monitor, with regard to the governance of the company and the paths that concern its future, which stem from the legislation in force and their quality as an interested party in this endeavour."

According to the council, "this evident need to participate internally, as important agents of concord and increased productivity and results, adding solutions and internal cohesion to management, as is seen and attested to in other European Union countries, undoubtedly contributes to projecting CGD into the future."

The body is therefore asking for “an analysis and consequent decision on the matter, contributing to the commitment of workers and their support in the defence and sustainability of the public CGD, which is important as a catalyst for social peace.2

ALN/ARO // ARO.

Lusa