Hundreds of people gathered this Friday at the Assembly of the Republic in Lisbon at the initiative of the CGTP, in which the trade union confederation demanded higher wages and pensions.
“We are here because this budget does not respond to the situation of the workers, the population,” CGTP Secretary General Isabelle Camarinha told reporters during the initiative, which took place on the day of the vote on the state budget.
For the leader, it is “a budget that preserves the options that PS and its government had in politics” and warned that inflation and rising cost of living are not reflected “in the same way for everyone.”
“Whoever has the lowest wages, who has the lowest pensions, cannot get access to essential goods and products,” Isabel Camarina stressed.
The union leader’s statements were made after the presentation of a resolution consisting of eight demands.
Claiming that the proposed measures ensure a better distribution of wealth and a decent life for those who produce it, the resolution calls for higher wages above 10% and 100 euros, an assessment of careers and professions, a national minimum wage of 850 euros. Since January, the right to collective bargaining has been restored, 35 hours a week for all, the eradication of job insecurity, the abolition of “hard rules” in labor laws, and the strengthening of public services and social functions of the state.
Isabelle Camarigna noted that in order to achieve these goals, there must be “a struggle in every workplace, in every company, in every service”, because “that’s when workers face low wages, overtime and unregulated work, with precarious ties.”
The leader of the union once again criticized the agreements signed between the government and civil servants’ unions, as well as in public consultations, saying that “not with these signed agreements (…) wage increases will be guaranteed.”
In the case of public administration, the agreement “does not even guarantee a replacement for purchasing power,” and in the private sector, CGTP has not signed agreements because it understands that they will “cut rights, lower wages” and do not guarantee better working conditions.
Asked if the trade union confederation allowed a general strike, Isabelle Camarinha referred to the week of December 10-17, which the CGTU called “a week of struggle.”
“Now we are going to take this action, and then, naturally, the organs of the OCGP – its national council – will come together and see how the struggle will continue if there are no necessary answers,” he pointed out, ensuring that “all forms are fighting, always on table.”
During the rally, the State Budget for 2023, which had meanwhile been approved in Parliament with a positive vote by PS and abstentions by individual deputies Livre and PAN, was whistled several times by hundreds of people who were near Constitution Square in 1976.