CIP presidency election brings calls for change

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In summer 2001, the forthcoming election of a new president of the Confederation of Portuguese Industry, following the retirement of the current incumbent after a 20-year term, has led to calls for a change of direction. The key industry associations which have co-existed and cooperated with CIP, which acts as an employers' organisation, now want to extend their own influence and develop new strategies in response to the challenges of EU membership.

The nature of Portuguese employers' association s was rethought in May 1974, immediately following the revolution in April of the same year. Industry employers, for the first time in Portugal, were able to have their own peak confederation and benefit from international representation. However, the Confederation of Portuguese Industry (Confederação da Indústria Portuguesa, CIP) was formally established only in 1975, after:

• the publication of legislation that regulated employers' associations; and

• the resolution of the question of the new confederation's relationship with both the Oporto Industrial Association (Associação Industrial Portuense, AIP), based in Oporto and with strong representation in the north of the country, and the Association of Portuguese Industry (Associação Industrial Portuguesa, AIP), based in Lisbon.

The co-existence of the three organisations was made possible by a division of responsibilities. The two industry associations had responsibility for economic and strategic matters, whilst CIP was in charge of social and employment matters.

In 1993, CIP widened its scope to cover the distribution or sale of products and services in the financial area. However, this change did not bring about significant changes in real terms, with CIP continuing primarily to represent Portuguese industry.

CIP's representative role was reinforced during the 1980s and 1990s, due to the fact that it publicly assumed the role of spokesperson for employers, particularly in industry, and became a "social partner". This was particularly the case after 1985, the date of the constitution of the Standing Council for Social Concertation (Conselho Permanente de Concertação Social) - and later of the Economic and Social Council (Conselho Económico e Social) - implying co-responsibility for certain areas of collective planning to deal with the economic and social problems faced by Portugal, through central agreements on social issues and incomes policy.

From 1994, the Oporto Industrial Association and the Association of Portuguese Industry joined the CIP board. Each was represented by a vice-president and this reinforced the overall representative nature of the CIP. However, according to some analysts, there were still certain weaknesses in the employers' organisation set-up. These were due to the absence of intermediate organisations (employers' federations or unions) and the affiliation to CIP of a relatively low number of the country's employers' associations (around 29% in 1994).

The current CIP president, Pedro Ferraz da Costa, has been in the job since 1981. The approaching conclusion of his current term of office, however, has led him to declare that he will not be standing again. A debate (unusual in Portugal) has developed over who is to fill the CIP presidency. Nogueira Simões, one of the six current vice-presidents, is seen as the natural candidate for the job. This is the consensus view of the majority of the industry associations, which are backing him for the post. For many years he has been the number two at CIP, with special responsibility for social negotiations.

However, there is less than total harmony among the industrial employers. The Oporto Industrial Association - now renamed the Business Association of Portugal ( Associação Empresarial de Portugal, AEP) - the Association of Portuguese Industry and the the National Association of Young Businesspeople (Associação Nacional de Jovens Empresários, ANJE) believe that the moment has come to take strategic decisions in an endeavour to: overcome the problems presented by European Union membership; address relationships with Spain; and increase pressure on the government in its political decision-making process. CIP has never made real statements of its strategy, which has emerged almost entirely as a result of its practice. The almost certain election of Mr Simões as CIP president will not bring about necessary change in the confederation's modus operandi, these organisations claim.

AEP has recently begun to play a greater part in the area of industrial relations, taking public stances on issues such as the 35-hour working week (PT0104145F) and the revision of labour legislation (PT0008104N).