Lisbon, Sept. 2, 2025 (Lusa) - The general secretary of the Communist backed CGTP trade union confederation said on Tuesday that "there are two or three measures" in the government's draft revision of labour legislation that are unconstitutional and criticised the "silence" of the president of Portugal on the matter.
"We believe that in this process, given the scale of the attack, given the scale of the problems [...] we cannot accept in any way that the president remains silent. It's unacceptable," said CGTP general secretary Tiago Oliveira, speaking to Lusa news agency on the eve of the meeting with the minister of labour, solidarity and social security.
At issue is the draft reform of labour legislation approved by the government, which is still being negotiated with the social partners and provides for the revision of "more than a hundred" articles of the Labour Code.
Both the CGTP and the Socialist-backed UGT union confederation will meet separately with the president on this issue on Friday, with the meetings scheduled for 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.
On 12 August, when asked about the changes to the labour law, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa reaffirmed that he would only give his opinion when he received the bill after it had been discussed in parliament.
"Two or three [articles] have been discussed, which were the problem of bereavement and then breastfeeding, everything else hasn't been discussed, but apparently what the government is saying is that it's still in a hearing phase, consultations, and then it's going to discuss it with the parliamentary parties," he said at the time.
The CGTP considers that the government's proposal represents "an assault on workers' rights" as well as "a step backwards" in labour policies and acknowledges that some rules may be unconstitutional.
"There are two or three measures that the CGTP believes are unconstitutional," says Tiago Oliveira, giving as an example "the ease of dismissals".
"How can the government put in its proposal that a worker who is the subject of a disciplinary process with the intention of dismissal, who goes to court to contest the dismissal, [...] and who wins the court case, the employer can deny the reinstatement of that worker?" he asked, emphasising that the Constitution prevents dismissal without just cause.
Another example raised by the CGTP secretary-general concerns collective bargaining, which, he said, "puts the decision of which collective agreement to apply in companies in the hands of employers", which violates "workers' freedom of association".
In this sense, the CGTP is calling on the president to make a statement, emphasising that the Head of State swore to comply with and enforce the Constitution of the Republic, and represent all the Portuguese, and that the majority of the Portuguese are being attacked on an enormous scale.
The first social dialogue meeting since the government's draft was presented is scheduled for 10 September, according to what the social partners told Lusa. Bilateral meetings are also planned, an official source from the government confirmed to Lusa, with the CGTP and UGT meeting the minister of labour, solidarity and social security on Wednesday.
"The minister has shown openness to meeting with the various organisations to discuss the draft [...] but she hasn't scheduled a meeting," criticised Tiago Oliveira, speaking to Lusa, stressing that "the CGTP requested the meeting".
"If the government had good faith. If the government really wanted to legislate in favour of the workers, it would have already presented a completely different proposal to this one. It would have set up meetings itself," he added, accusing the government of "putting it on the plate" to meet the "bosses' objectives", while the workers have to "run after the loss".
JMF/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
