Public sector trade unions hold general strike against wage freezes and lower retirement pensions

On 4 March 2010, public sector workers went on strike against government proposals to freeze wages and cut retirement pensions. The general strike call was issued by all of the trade unions representing the public sector. According to the unions, about 80% of public sector workers – including from the central administration, education, health and the municipalities – went on strike, a number which contrasts considerably with the government estimate of 13%.

Government proposals

Among the measures presented by the Portuguese government in the proposal for the 2010 state budget, published in January, is a freeze on real wage increases for the public sector and the reduction of retirement pensions in the public sector. In particular, the government proposes to tighten penalties for early retirement by reducing the pension value by 6% a year – rather than the current 4.5% a year – if a person retires before the legal age of retirement. The final approval of the 2010 state budget in the parliament is expected on 12 March 2010.

Trade unions representing public sector workers expressed their clear opposition to the proposals. The unions concerned include the Common Front of Public Administration Unions (Frente Comum dos Sindicatos da Administração Pública, FC), affiliated to the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses, CGTP), and the two trade unions affiliated to the General Workers’ Union (União Geral de Trabalhadores, UGT): the Trade Union Front of Public Administration (Frente Sindical da Administração Pública, FESAP) and the Technical Civil Servants’ Union (Sindicato dos Quadros Técnicos do Estado, STE). In particular, FC – which is the most powerful trade union coalition in the public sector – announced in January 2010 that it would organise a national demonstration against the measures on 5 February; about 50,000 public sector workers took part in that protest (PT1002019I).

Trade unions converge to call general strike

Despite the trade unions’ clear opposition to the proposals, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, who opened the negotiations with trade unions on 9 February 2010, made clear from the beginning and during the negotiation rounds that the two controversial issues – the wage freeze and the reduction of pensions – were not up for discussion. Immediately after the first meeting with the finance minister, on 9 February, FC called for a general strike in the public sector to take place on 4 March. On 18 February, STE and FESAP expressed their agreement with the general strike initiative and called on their members to participate.

Differing reports on general strike numbers

According to the FC Coordinator, Ana Avoila, more than 300,000 public sector workers went on strike on 4 March 2010 in protest against the wage freeze, the higher penalties on early retirement and issues related to careers and the performance evaluation system. Ms Avoila stated to the press that the level of participation in the strike reached 80%, a figure similar to that of the last strike held by the three trade union organisations in 2007 (PT0711049I). Furthermore, according to Ms Avoila, the largest impact of the strike was in the municipalities, with a 90% participation rate, and in social security services (also 90%), followed by the education and health sectors, where about 80% of the workers went on strike. The President of STE, Bettencout Picanço, reported similar numbers, while the President of FESAP, Nobre dos Santos, estimated that between 70% and 80% of the public sector workers joined the strike.

The immediate government reaction to the strike was to publish contrasting numbers in relation to the participation level. Indeed, the gap between the government and trade union calculations was wider than ever. The Secretary of State for the Public Sector, Gonçalo Castilho dos Santos, declared that ‘54,515 workers, out of the total 412,517 workers in the central public administration, went on strike – that is, 13.22%’. Explaining that these data were collected by the public services and submitted to the state database, Mr Castilho dos Santos challenged the trade unions to document their calculations.

Commentary

The convergence between all of the trade unions in calling a general strike was a major step towards expressing workers’ discontent – especially since, during the last two years, any strikes held in the public sector were not jointly supported by the CGTP and UGT unions. In contrast, the trade unions did cooperate in this regard in 2006 and 2007 (PT0607039I, PT0611019I, PT0711049I).

However, the government in power in 2006 and 2007 had an absolute majority in the parliament, which is not the case at present. The current government is taking a risk in ignoring this protest and the trade unions’ collaboration insofar as opposition parties might address the protest differently. Furthermore, trade unions fear that the government aims to extend the wage freeze until 2013. Ultimately, the proposed reduction in early retirement benefits constitutes a major challenge for the expectations of public sector workers, as they are planned to come into effect as early as 2015, according to the legal provisions currently in force.

Maria da Paz Campos Lima, Dinâmia