Regarding the new Labor Code, now under discussion, there has already been talk of red lines. Does CAP have red lines or not?
No, CAP does not have red lines, in fact, the president of CAP made some statements specifically calling the attention of the unions so that this stance in negotiations could be reversed. It’s not about putting red lines, it’s about putting green lines and knowing what’s possible to negotiate. There are 100 measurements. It seems that we are in an all-or-nothing situation here: either approve everything or approve nothing. We want to make the country evolve from the point of view of the rules of the Labor Code, most of which point to measures to eliminate the gray parts of the Labor Code. Workers who are compliant, who arrive on time, who perform their duties with utmost quality, have nothing to worry about changes to the Labor Code.
In your opinion, what are the gray areas?
I give two or three examples. The issue of breastfeeding was talked about a lot. What existed, in practice, is that there were less aware people, to say the least, who prolonged breastfeeding until the age of 8. And people have to understand that the company is the one supporting, each month, a week for that person to leave early so they can breastfeed their child. When this article was created in the Labor Code, it was not to reach 8 years, it was to have a reasonable time and that is what the Government proposed, to reach two years. Therefore, we are not taking away the right, we do not want to end it, we want to end abuses. Another much talked about example. It is said that this Government wants to end the strike law. It’s nothing like that. It has to do with the current legislation of the Labor Code, which regulates the strike law and requires minimum services. But in practice, there are no minimum services.
And are these gray areas also reflected in agriculture?
No, agriculture is the opposite of these problems, because agriculture is struggling with a huge lack of labor. Whoever has workers values these workers, creates all the conditions for them to continue working, especially those that are of good quality.
But then there are also illegal workers, right?
That’s always there. It’s not just in agriculture. If they are not acceptable, they must be combated. In fact, these cases are all marginal cases, because companies that sell for export, that sell to large supermarkets, are required to have certification.
But these are the big companies, we are also talking about the smaller ones.
Yes, but small traders also have to comply with the law. What I mean by this is that it is not the majority of companies, nor the majority of products that do this, and those who can do this are those who have a less structured, less organized type of production. In fact, there is a burden on the Odemira issue. It seems that sometimes people don’t want to see reality. Go see and report in Odemira, in larger companies.
This doesn’t have to do with the workers, does it have more to do with the places where they live or survive?
When we go to a restaurant and don’t see the people in the kitchen, do we know where they sleep, in what conditions they sleep? If we see people doing other types of tasks, cleaning, security, all of that, let’s check if they live five to a room or two? I’m not saying there aren’t cases. There are and they are known, but they have to be monitored, we have to eliminate that.
How is it possible, or not, to convince a Government to invest more in agriculture?
I think this has been a characteristic for 50 years. As the active population decreased in agriculture, we went from a situation of around 25% of the active population. In the 1960s, 40% of the Portuguese population was involved in agriculture, today it is 4%. As the political system in Portugal is determined by one person’s vote, there is no chamber that reflects the territory – I think this was decisive for who governs. Politicians think about votes, and agriculture has few votes, it has a lot of territory, but it has few votes.
So does this mean that this is also why Portuguese agriculture in Brussels cannot prevail?
Portuguese agriculture in Brussels has difficulty imposing itself because we weigh 2.6% in this society and, therefore, a shareholder who has 2.6% controls little, cannot even define the direction that this company takes and this happens a little in Brussels. But the biggest problem lies in these 50 years of agricultural policy. There has never been a Portuguese agricultural policy that knew how to use, or direct, or give direction to the money that Brussels makes available to countries.