The UGT will maintain the general strike scheduled for December 11th, guaranteed this Wednesday, November 26th, general secretary Mário Mourão, who nevertheless welcomed the “will” shown by the Government to reach an agreement.
“It was a constructive meeting. UGT demonstrated its willingness to continue negotiations and the Government also showed its willingness. The strike will continue, this issue was never on the table. Let’s see if there is room for an agreement or not”he told journalists, upon leaving the meeting.
Mário Mourão explained that “until the general strike it is not possible to take steps to reach an agreement or close to an agreement”, but stressed that “there is a desire to work”, especially because “very sensitive issues” and “with a lot of impact” for workers are at stake, namely fixed-term contracts, outsourcingparenthood and reinstatement of workers in the event of dismissal.
The union leader explained that this Wednesday’s meeting served to inform the Prime Minister of the reasons that led to the strike and not “to negotiate”.
Mário Mourão says that the meeting allowed the existing “tension” to be eased a little and for the construction of “an environment conducive to continuing the negotiations”.
“The Government was willing to extend the rapprochement between the parties to the necessary time”, he revealed.