Anyone who wants to travel to Portugal or move within the country on Thursday will most likely have to make a different plan. For the first time since 2013, the country’s two largest unions, CGTP and UGT, have announced a nationwide strike that appears to be being followed en masse. The unions expect half of that the Portuguese workforce will participate.
TAP, Portugal’s national airline, has canceled almost all flights. The metro in Lisbon is not running. Other buses, trains and ferries operate on a minimal schedule. Many employees in healthcare and the public sector have also announced that they will stop work on Thursday, as have teachers at schools and universities.
While the strike was organized in 2013 in protest against drastic cuts in government spending – as a condition for receiving international support in the wake of the economic crisis – the cause now lies elsewhere: the proposed reforms to the labor law.
On July 24, the Portuguese government presented the large-scale reform package Trabalho XXIwhich refers to works in the 21st century. In order to keep up with the changes brought about by globalization and digitalization of the world, the labor code must be modernized on a large scale, according to the minority government of center-right Prime Minister Luís Montenegro. The package contains more than a hundred reforms, from eliminating three days off in the event of a miscarriage and expanding the duration of temporary contracts from two to three years, to increasing the number of working hours per day and per week and repealing the year-long ban on hiring after a round of layoffs.
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Flexibilidade is the key word for the government of the southern European country, which largely relies on tourism. It is precisely in this sector that flexibility is important to be able to cope with seasonal peaks. The government also believes that the reforms will increase Portugal’s competitiveness, modernize recruitment rules and provide scope to reward merit more.
Vulnerability
The unions, supported by the Communist Party, see one disadvantage above all: the vulnerability of the employee. For example, they are concerned about the proposed rules on overtime. There is now a higher compensation of at least 125 percent for an hour of overtime, but in the new plan employers can have their employees work 150 hours of overtime per year, for the regular rate. This could cost employees with an average income 930 euros annually, writes Harvard University economist Gonçalo Pessa Costa. the Portuguese newspaper Expresso. A significant amount in a country where the minimum wage fluctuates around 870 euros.
This vulnerability is further increased because the government wants to make it easier to dismiss employees: according to the reform plans, employers no longer have to interview witnesses or investigate evidence if the employee requests it. Under the plan, employers can also ask their employees to work ten hours a day, with a maximum of fifty hours per week, for three and a half months per year.
Under the plan, employers are allowed to have their employees work 150 hours of overtime per year, for the regular rate
The unions made it clear immediately after the presentation that there were major concerns about the plans. They organized several protests: in early November tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Lisbon to express their displeasure. According to a recent poll 61 percent of Portuguese are against it. Although the government has since proposed some adjustments, the unions felt insufficiently heard and decided to go ahead with their plans for a mass strike.
Whether the strike will have an effect remains to be seen on Thursday. In any case, the government has announced that it will implement the reform before Christmas, although the date of the parliamentary vote has not yet been announced. The radical right-wing Chega party is expected to help Prime Minister Montenegro gain a majority.
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