“I am not against the strike, the strike is a constitutionally accepted right, but it is untimely and disproportionate. I didn’t see a discussion to the point of exhaustion to say that an agreement was not reached, I didn’t see that”, said this Tuesday, 2, Francisco Calheiros.
The president of the Portuguese Tourism Confederation (CTP), who was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the 50th Congress of the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (APAVT), taking place in Macau, reiterated his criticism of the general strike on the 11th, called by the CGTP and UGT trade unions, as the negotiation process over the labor law is still ongoing.
“A general strike is something complicated, it can bring the country to a standstill and that’s what we don’t need right now. We need to increase productivity and we won’t do it with a general strike“, he stressed.
For Francisco Calheiros “it is not reasonable to paralyze the country without even knowing the result of the negotiations”.
“The Government presented, in the context of Social Consultation, its proposal to review labor legislation. Before it began to be discussed, a general strike was already being announced, therefore I consider that the general strike, although it is a constitutionally accepted right by all, must be determined at a time when there is no longer any kind of dialogue“, he defended.
The representative of tourism businesspeople also praised the Minister of Labor, stressing Rosário Palma Ramalho is open to dialogue. “He is a super capable person who is very well prepared from the point of view of labor legislation. We have had lots of conversations and meetings with her. It is clear that many of the positions that CTP defends may not go forward either, but we are putting forward our arguments”, he said.
“There are topics to which the minister was more sensitive, which are important, such as the issue of the individual time bank, the issue of very short-term contracts or intermittent contracts. Our dialogue has been great, there has been a discussion. It confuses me that some unions say that there is no dialogue because I believe that there has been a very dialoguing spirit on the part of the minister“, he added.
Regarding the support of the sector he represents, he is confident that it will be weak, although he admits indirect consequences. “From a tourism point of view, from the various entities we have spoken to, from hotels to restaurants, we do not think there will be a large turnout for this strike.. However, when people go, for example, to have lunch at a restaurant, if they experience difficulties in getting around because of transport, perhaps there will be consequences”, he admitted.
*The journalist traveled to Macau at the invitation of APAVT
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