The decision to stage industrial action has come as somewhat of a surprise to most observers, with the Communist-backed CGTP having had most of their qualms addressed by the minority government. This is partly the result of the government taking office only after the Communist Party stepped up to hand the Socialist Party the necessary support to rule.
At the centre of the CGTP’s grievances isthe fact that timetables for civil servants remain at 40-hours-a-week, and it has called for the immediate return to 35 hours. The Confederation is also insisting any victory on this front also be passed on to the private sector workforce.
The government had earlier this year pledged to cut workers’ hours, but said they first had to address shortages in services that such a move would provoke on the public sector, especially as it has seen its numbers pruned by tens of thousands of workers following demands imposed by the bailout Troika since 2011.
In a last-ditch attempt to avoid Portugal’s largest trade union from carrying out action later this month and avert most state services operating only with skeleton staff, Prime Minister António Costa summoned CGTP leader Arménio Carlos to São Bento on Wedneaday to explain the government’s predicament, but nonetheless reinforce its plans to reduce working hours and take note of other trade union grievances.
But in comments to reporters on Wednesday evening following the meeting, the CGTP leader said that while both parties valued “the convergence of the two sides on current policies” coupled with a promise by the government to fulfil a series of pre-electoral assurances, “the week of protest remains intact.”
“We are keeping this protest in place. It is not exactly the same as many others we have staged in the past, when we were faced with legislation that challenged workers’ rights”, Arménio Carlos conceded, but said the week of strikes and demonstrations serves as “positive pressure to unblock issues which are directly related to companies and workers” and warned that budgetary issues should not be used as an excuse to stall salary increases, combat unemployment and revise labour laws.
While the government has now publicly expressed its intention to deal with these demands its precedessors showed no inclination towards heeding, it has also become apparent that issues such as the reduction of working hours is but the first of many claims the CGTP plans to stake for workers in the foreseeable future.
Along with the UGT, which is Portugal’s second largest trade union, the CGTP lost close to 150,000 members during the financial crisis, as industrial action failed to move the previous government from a position bent on austerity. But the change in governance and the Socialist government’s policy of appeasement and comprimise will be seen by unions as a golden opportunity to have its ranks swell once again.
The CGTP, whose membership roll is filled with high-ranking politicians from the far left, will also have this additional card up its sleeve when negotiating additional concessions as the Socialist Party’s continued governance is almost uniquely dependent on continued support from the Communist Party and the Left Bloc.
Refusal to accept the growing list of union demands could see the government’s far left alliance partners being forced to align themselves with unions or lose the support of much of its support base. Siding with unions will then have the inevitable result of an ultimatum being handed to António Costa, forcing him to walk a narrow political tightrope by having to choose between conceding to unions or face early elections.
Any major concessions will leave the Socialist Party with the additional concern that its quest to remain in power will come at the cost of increasing spending on wages and manpower, which could mean it risking the wrath of the EU in the likely event the country’s burgeoning budget deficit spirals even further into the red.