I am not going to comment on the Prime Minister’s fabulous statements about the miraculous relationship between the labor counter-reform “Work XXI” and the alleged miraculous increases in minimum and average wages. They talk about themselves, without the need for commentary.
I am also not going to comment on the hilarious statements made by the Minister of Labor, Dr. Maria Palma Ramalho, about the Labor Code and how it was unbalanced against companies! Perhaps as a result of the minister moving in social circles associated with the management of large companies and a news language in which much is subordinated to shareholder remuneration, she may have forgotten, for a moment, that the Labor Code was authored by a PSD/CDS majority government from 2003 and has been revised 26 times since then.
This week I will only pay attention to Dr. Luís Montenegro’s statements that the General Strike was marked by political motivations, deducing that the CGTP and UGT were serving the interests of the opposition.
I confess that I, unwary, until about a decade ago was credulous in relation to these narratives of the alleged dependence of trade unions on certain political parties. A narrative, however, that does not stand up to closer observation. As an example, see, for all, how the unfriendly, but effective, Dr. Mário Nogueira fought, in full contraption, against the freezing of teachers’ time, going against the wishes of the party of which he was leader and subordinating it to the interests of the professional class he represented.
Now in this general strike we have something extraordinary: for the first time independent unions declare a strike under the aegis of the Union of Independent Unions – USI. The USI’s first general strike in its 25-year history. And the overwhelming number of independent (and strictly non-partisan) unions that joined this strike shows that discontent is widespread and that the Prime Minister is wrong. The entire working world, including social democratic workers and independent unions, is against this labor counter-reform. For the first time, the Minister of Labor managed to get all, indeed all, the unions to repudiate this attempt of hers to redesign labor relations. It is an achievement worthy of note!
Because we are certain of one thing. With this labor counter-reform, collective layoffs and job losses will skyrocket, the middle class will be decimated, the streets will fill with homeless people and young people will emigrate more, much more, than they do now.
President of SNQTB