The general secretary of the PKP said this Saturday that he does not view the government’s agreement with the drivers’ union as “a reversal of fundamental executive options” but acknowledged that the commitment is “good news.”
At a press conference after a meeting of the party’s central committee, Paulo Raimundo said that he does not know what exactly the parties signed, but despite this, he admits that “for those who signed it, this will be good news”, since “If he signed this, then because he thinks it’s good.”
The communist leader was referring to the wage increase agreement that was reached this Friday between the train drivers’ union and the Ministry of Infrastructure and which led to the suspension of the strike at CP – Comboios de Portugal, which lasted until July 14.
The PCP secretary general criticised the government, saying the country was facing a “national emergency” that required “exceptional measures and special measures to address the issue of a general and significant wage increase.”
Paulo Raimundo considered it necessary to recruit workers to CP due to its “strategic importance” and to “create conditions that allow workers to be attracted to CP.”
“This can only be done with a significant increase in wages, starting with the wage for joining the profession and for joining the CP itself. And this is a strategic element that meets all the demands of workers. It doesn’t look like there is a cancellation of the state option fund,” he added.
Responding to a question about the recent words of the former President of the Republic, Cavaco Silva, about the possibility of a new trip to the elections, Paulo Raimundo said that his desire is not for early elections, but to create conditions for the government to “correspond to the interests of economic groups.”
“We have a government program that says what it is for, that it is aimed and organized in such a way as to meet the interests of economic groups, and this is what Mr. Cavaco Silva wants to do, and as quickly as possible, this option,” he ruled.
Raimundo, speaking about problems in the justice sector, also confirmed that the current attorney general of the republic “does not have the opportunity” to extend his current mandate, which ends in October, and emphasized the current “widespread consensus on addressing justice issues.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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