Collective bargaining and strikes in the first half of 2000
Published: 27 July 2000
Official statistics on collective bargaining and strikes in Portugal in the first half of 2000 were published in July. Collective bargaining activity remains relatively stable, if lacking innovation, while strike activity, though declining somewhat in terms of the number of strikes, has had a considerable impact. Trade unions appear to be making a major effort to coordinate their bargaining activities and taking a more active role in instigating effective industrial action.
Download article in original language : PT0007102FPT.DOC
Official statistics on collective bargaining and strikes in Portugal in the first half of 2000 were published in July. Collective bargaining activity remains relatively stable, if lacking innovation, while strike activity, though declining somewhat in terms of the number of strikes, has had a considerable impact. Trade unions appear to be making a major effort to coordinate their bargaining activities and taking a more active role in instigating effective industrial action.
In July 2000, the publication of a number of official statistics allows a balance to be drawn up of a number of key industrial relations developments in Portugal in the first half of 2000
Collective bargaining
According to figures from the General Directorate for Working Conditions (Direcção Geral das Condições de Trabalho, DGCT), the first half of 2000 witnessed the publication of 179 collective agreements, 60.3% of which were sectoral agreements, 36.9% were company agreements, and 2.8% were "adoption agreements", whereby social partners in one area adopted agreements already negotiated elsewhere (see table 1 below). Only a very small percentage were new agreements (6% of the sectoral agreements signed in the second quarter), with the remainder being amendments to existing agreements. A total of 62 ministerial orders extending agreements to other sectors and companies - extension directive s (portarias de extensão) - were issued.
The figures for the first half of 2000, compared with the same period in 1999, re-emphasise the continuing stability and continuity that characterise collective bargaining in Portugal (PT9901123F). The only new observations is that there has been something of a tendency towards an increase in the proportion of company-level agreements in the total.
| 2000 | 1999 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sectoral agreements | 60.3% | 63.9% |
| Company-level agreements | 36.9% | 32.9% |
| Adoption agreements | 2.8% | 3.2% |
| Total no. of agreements | 179 | 197 |
| Extension directives | 62 | na |
Source: DGCT (provisional data for second quarter).
DGCT's analysis of the collective agreements reached during the first quarter of 2000 indicates that:
they continue to be predominantly national in scope – 80.0% of sectoral agreements covered the whole of the country;
the General Workers' Union (União Geral de Trabalhadores, UGT), at 37.8% of all agreements, and the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses, CGTP), at 35.1%, negotiated virtually the same number of collective agreements, while 24.3% were jointly negotiated by both unions;
only 29.7% of agreements covered non-pay matters. Although innovation concerning the organisation of working time is gradually being introduced, the content of agreements in most areas is not innovative; and
some 100,000 employees were covered by the agreements. However, during the same period the state issued 37 labour regulation directives ( portarias de regulamentação de trabalho)extending existing agreements, so the number of people covered was doubtless much greater than this.
Strikes
According to figures from the Institute for the Development and Inspection of Working Conditions (Instituto para o Desenvolvimento e Inspecção das Condições de Trabalho, IDICT), 224 strikes took place during the first half of 2000 (see table 2 below). A high percentage – 80.1% - occurred in individual private or public sector companies, while 11.1% affected the civil service and around 9% were sectoral in nature, affecting more than one company. The same period witnessed two protest strikes of more general scope - one in the civil service and another "for a Europe of full employment", which was held during the Feira European Council summit (PT0006198F).
| 1st quarter | 2nd quarter | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All strikes | 84 | 140 | 224 |
| Company level | 68 | 113 | 181 |
| Multi-company or sectoral | 6 | 12 | 18 |
| Civil service | 10 | 15 | 25 |
| Strikes threatened but not taking place | 59 | 60 | 119 |
Source: IDICT (provisional data for 2nd quarter) - figures include go-slows.
The transport sector and metalworking accounted for the highest proportion of strikes - 47.9% and 29.3% of company-level strikes respectively. Strikes involving more than one company occurred most frequently in services to business (such as cleaning), where there were four strikes. They also hit a number of other sectors, such as fishing, textiles, construction and the chemicals industry.
Despite the fact that the number of strikes did not differ substantially from that experienced in the same period of 1999 – in fact there were slightly fewer of them – those that occurred during the first half of 2000 had a significant impact because:
they occurred in sectors that have a major impact on the public, as in the case of the many strikes by public transport workers in large cities and suburban areas (PT0004188N), and strikes by nurses;
on a number of occasions (as in public transport), the trades unions' strategy included conducting simultaneous or coordinated action– in other words, strikes were declared in various companies at the same time in order to achieve a general mobilisation of workers who had different grievances but all of whom possessed considerable influence on public opinion;
major debates took place on related issues, such as whether it was opportune to revise the law governing strikes, the government's ability to lay down the provision of minimum services, and the legitimacy of strikes that affect essential public services;
the government's issued a decree ordering staff to provide minimum cover during a dispute in air transport; and
two strikes - those held during the Lisbon and Feira summits - were considered to be political in nature.
Commentary
An analysis of the arguments employed by trade unions in calling strike action in the first half of 2000 reveals the following concerns: a perceived overall reduction in employees' rights (notably lack of employment security); systematic refusals by employers to participate in collective bargaining; and continued failure by employers to improve employees' situations at a time when the overall economic situation has improved, although the immediate situation may have negative features. It should also be noted that more strikes than usual were concentrated in a number of civil service sectors and among other publicly-employed workers and groups with a substantial impact on public opinion. Strikes – and to an increasing extent, the threat thereof – are increasingly being used as a negotiating tool, instead of dispute-resolution mechanisms,
Collective bargaining could be said to be progressing at "cruising speed". A labour law commission is currently studying possible alterations to the legal system governing the overall structure of bargaining. The experts continue to be uncertain as to how to unblock collective bargaining (PT0002183F), with possible solutions including: the use of less formal formats; the involvement of other organisations, such as workers' commission s; consideration of the level at which the state should intervene, the extent to which it should intervene and its role when it does so; making the regulatory mechanisms more dynamic; and measures to safeguard existing rights. A balance has to be achieved between protectionism on the one hand and an excessively adversarial system without dialogue on the other. However, the truth is that the current state of affairs has persisted for many years (PT9711147F). (Maria Luisa Cristovam)
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2000), Collective bargaining and strikes in the first half of 2000, article.
This website is an official website of the European Union.
All official European Union website addresses are in the europa.eu domain.
See all EU institutions and bodies