Portugal: long live the general strike!

On 11 December, a nationwide general strike has been called in Portugal, that has the potential to paralyse the country. As Portuguese capitalism is wracked with crisis, the bosses are further intensifying the exploitation of the Portuguese working class. The general strike must go further than modest demands, it must mark the beginning of a campaign to bring down the regime itself, and the entire capitalist system!

“Not a wheel turns, not a phone rings, not a light bulb shines without the kind permission of the working class!” – Ted Grant

[Originally published in Portuguese at comunistasrevolucionarios.pt]

The changes to labour laws put forward by the government, to the delight and applause of employers, constitute an almost unprecedented attack on workers' rights. There are well over 100 proposals, all for the benefit of employers and none for the benefit of workers.

As during the dark years of the Troika [the IMF, ECB and European Commission that imposed draconian austerity in exchange for bailouts during the 2011-14 eurozone crisis], the bosses' offensive is justified by the need to ‘modernise’ the Portuguese economy. What is this modernisation based on? It consists of intensifying the exploitation of the working class, lowering labour costs, making jobs absurdly precarious, and limiting trade union rights, all in a country whose economy has always been based on low wages.

The changes to the labour laws will include the proposal that the Time Bank system be reintroduced, allowing up to 50 working hours per week without any extra compensation. It includes the possibility of bosses outsourcing the day after issuing collective dismissals [fire and rehire]. Fixed-term contracts could be extended up to four years without giving workers’ permanent contracts. Companies would have the right to dismiss employees without presenting evidence, or allowing the employee to present witnesses. Even if convicted in court, companies will not be obliged to reinstate illegally dismissed workers. There will be less protection for so-called ‘independent’ workers (freelancers). Collective bargaining is to be undermined, with unions’ rights to disseminate information being left to the discretion of the employer in companies where there is no unionised workforce. In addition, ‘minimum services’ in the event of a strike will be extended to many more sectors.

All this would be bad enough, but they are only a small part of the countless changes that are all – we repeat – for the benefit of the employer and to the detriment of workers’ rights!

If there were any doubts about this proposal, which exudes arrogance, Portuguese industry bosses have now demanded the right to reduce the wages agreed with their workers by ‘mutual agreement’. This is tantamount to saying: ‘either you agree to earn less, or you're out on the street’.

Given the proposals for ‘flexible hiring’ (i.e. making it easy to sack workers) and the limitations on free trade union activity, employers will have the upper hand in imposing this ‘mutual agreement’. The same applies to the Time Bank system, flexible working hours, etc. In addition to worsening working conditions, the proposals of the employers and the government also aim to restrict the possibility and rights of workers to protest and fight back.

Capitalist smokescreens

Naturally, employers and their lackeys in parliament, traditional and social media justify this declaration of war as, on the one hand, inevitable, and on the other, beneficial to workers. Between soundbites worthy of an evangelical pastor's TED Talk promising the Kingdom of Heaven just around the corner, they tell us that employers need to be able to dismiss workers more easily so that they can increase wages. They explain that we need working hours that hark back to the 19th century in order to adapt to the technological world of the 21st century!

In fact, contrary to the employers’ propaganda, by encouraging the intensification of labour exploitation, the new proposal not only fails to ‘modernise’ the economy, but actually sinks the country further into backwardness and underdevelopment. It discourages the capitalists from investing and modernising the productive forces: their ‘competitive advantage’ will, more than ever, be maintained through the brutal exploitation of workers. It is no coincidence that the proposals also halve the number of hours of compulsory vocational training required in small businesses!

The capitalist press has no shortage of references to ‘liberal havens’, the latest of which seems to be Denmark, where, curiously, the unionisation rate of workers is four times higher than in Portugal. Unemployment benefits in Denmark can reach 90 percent of a worker’s previous salary, compared to 65 percent in our country. But the capitalist media are experts at deliberately mixing causation with correlation. They throw numbers around, handpicking a few decontextualised statistics for propaganda purposes.

All of this is a smokescreen that attempts to conceal two inescapable realities: the systemic crisis of capitalism, which imposes permanent austerity on all countries, and the fact that the Portuguese economy has always been based on low wages and intensive exploitation of labour. Portuguese capitalists now have no other means of maintaining their profit margins in the global market than through even more ferocious exploitation of the workforce.

It is essential to understand that our class enemy has no alternatives. For them, it is also a matter of life and death / Image: Agência Lusa, Wikimedia Commons

In a country that has based its recent economic growth on tourism, property speculation and financialisation, it is insulting and grotesque that the ruling class blames workers – and the few labour protections they still have – for the harsh living conditions and the country's economic backwardness.

It was the bourgeoisie that failed to invest in science or innovation. They failed to invest in new machinery or technology, in new techniques, new industries or cutting-edge production. Instead, they bet on what was quickest and easiest to recoup the euros they invested. This essentially meant ‘developing’ and deepening the rentier economy. At the same time, given the weight of public debt and usurious interest rates, public investment in Portugal has always been below the European average. The same is true of productivity.

This is a key element of the equation: average labour productivity in Portugal is around 30 percent below the European average. Only Greece and Slovakia have lower productivity rates! Portugal has consistently experienced average growth rates for Europe, which are already poor compared to the United States or China. It is estimated that average labour productivity has grown by only about 5 percent over the last 10 years. There is only one word to describe this situation: catastrophic.

At a time when there is an ongoing crisis of overproduction, when trade wars between the major powers are intensifying, competition for meagre markets is becoming more difficult. Europe is the sick man of world capitalism. Portuguese bosses are left with no choice but to redouble their exploitation of Portuguese workers.

It is essential to understand that our class enemy has no alternatives. For them, it is also a matter of life and death. This labour proposal is not the result of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's malice, the employers’ greed, or their short-sightedness – even if they are all indeed short-sighted scoundrels.

This labour proposal is a necessity imposed by the capitalist crisis. The bosses will not be persuaded and the government will not be swayed. All negotiation is futile, it is a kabuki theatre to conceal capitulation. A war is being fought and the unions must show determination and resilience in their mobilisation.

Spread the strike!

The call for a general strike by the two trade union confederations – for the first time in 12 years – is an important step, but it should not be seen as ‘business as usual’, or as a show of strength to resume negotiations in a more favourable position and extract a few concessions.

The general strike on 11 December should not be an end in itself. We absolutely reject the strategy of isolated days of action, organised in dribs and drabs, keeping the various fronts of the labour movement's struggle in separate, watertight compartments. The only thing that such a strategy achieves is to briefly release the accumulated anger, before wearing down and defeating the movement.

The labour proposal is this government’s greatest affront against the masses, but it is not the only one: what about the immigration law? The increase in tuition fees? The cuts to the National Health Service in 2026? What about the disregard for climate change and the neglect in fighting wildfires? What about tax breaks for landlords? What about support for the genocide in Gaza, the war in Ukraine, or the expansion of military spending, which is unprecedented since the colonial war?

All these reactionary policies are part of the same offensive by this government in the service of rotten Portuguese capitalism. Therefore, the fight against these policies must be included in the general strike's list of demands, and used to mobilise the broadest layers of the population, including immigrants and young people.

Just two months ago, millions of Italian workers and students held a political strike in solidarity with the people of Gaza / Image: fair use

The mobilisation programme cannot therefore be limited to rejecting the labour proposal – even if this is the most urgent task. It cannot be limited to vague slogans such as ‘higher wages’ or ‘better public services’. Our class must go on the offensive!

The minimum wage in Portugal must be brought in line with Spain’s minimum wage by 2026! AI should not be a tool for mass redundancies, but for a drastic reduction in working hours: 32 hours per week now! No more waiting lists for medical appointments! No more tuition fees! Freeze rents! Retirement at 60! All these are demands that must be included in our fighting programme.

Vague and moderate demands are an obstacle to the development of a powerful strike movement. Most workers cannot easily sacrifice one or more days’ wages. The strike must be worthwhile, and the goals of the struggle must be proportional to the sacrifices made.

It is necessary to build an unlimited strike movement, accompanied by mass occupations and based on a programme that puts the movement on the offensive.

We know that this is not the perspective of the CGTP and UGT leadership, but when the anger and exasperation of the exploited masses reach a certain threshold, the vicissitudes of political and social life always provide the spark that provokes a social explosion, regardless of the disbelief of the movement's leaders or activists.

Who would have dared to say, just two months ago, that millions of Italian workers and students would hold a political strike in solidarity with the people of Gaza?

Could such a movement develop in Portugal in the coming weeks? Yes, it is possible! Because the resentment of the masses is reaching very high levels and, sooner or later, what is possible will become inevitable!

How to win

But to achieve this, we cannot sit idly by! The central task of the trade unions and the most active militants of our class is to unite our forces to raise the level of consciousness and organisation in the movement. An intense campaign of clarification must be carried out in workplaces and industries, schools and universities, in neighbourhoods and cities across the country, through plenaries and assemblies, marches and pickets, agitation and propaganda. This work of clarification, agitation and mobilisation cannot be left solely in the hands of trade union structures. Strike committees must be organised in all workplaces, schools and neighbourhoods, so that we can involve the whole class.

The day of the general strike is not for staying at home, but for mass mobilisation! Strike pickets must be set up at the companies’ doors. Agitation brigades must clarify the situation to the population on the day itself, especially at public transport junctions. We must follow the examples of France and Italy and ‘block everything’!

A successful general strike, sustained by a broad militant mobilisation, would completely change the social situation and show how superficial the ‘right-wing turn’ in the country really is.

Any general strike raises the question of who keeps society running, who has all the potential power in their hands and who is in charge.

This is not an isolated attack, but part of a general offensive by the capitalist class. The aim of the general strike should not only be to defeat the labour proposal, but to overthrow the bosses’ government. Going even further, our goal must be the collapse of the regime itself, which is now celebrating 50 years since the counter-revolution following the 1974 Portuguese Revolution. It is a rotten regime that has nothing to offer us but austerity and continuous attacks.

Portugal needs a new revolution, as it had in April 1974! Workers and young people must see the general strike as an opportunity to fight not only the bosses and this government, but the entire regime. We say that it is necessary to build a revolutionary mass organisation that defends these ideas and methods.

The general strike on the 11th should not be the end, but only the beginning. As Trotsky pointed out: “A revolutionary victory can become possible only as a result of long political agitation, a lengthy period of education and organisation of the masses.” There is no better school for this than the general strike!