Lisbon, Nov. 7, 2024 (Lusa) - Lisbon's young workers delivered a letter to the government on Thursday, calling for a "general increase in wages", an end to precariousness, "the reduction and regulation of working hours" and the strengthening of public services.
These demands are contained in a letter that Interjovem, the CGTP's young workers' organisation, delivered today to the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, in which the capital's young workers demand "an alternative policy for Portugal, based on the right to work and work with rights, based on valuing workers and youth, based on the achievements, values and project of April".
In its four-point letter, Interjovem Lisboa advocates a general wage increase of at least 15% to a minimum of 150 euros, as well as an increase in the national minimum wage from the current €820 to €1,000, as stated in the CGTP's list of demands, "to safeguard the purchasing power of young people" and to "ensure the right things to build a life of dignity and quality."
It should be remembered that the national minimum wage will rise to €870 from January 2025.
"Precariousness is an attack on the constitutional right to work with rights and job security, it is a socio-economic scourge with severe impacts on the lives of young people," the young workers of Lisbon also point out, adding that it contributes “to the postponement of important life decisions, conditions the achievement of independence and emancipation of working youth and even serves as a barrier to the realisation of professional goals”.
In this context, they demand "the fight against all forms of job insecurity, the regularisation of precarious contracts for workers in permanent jobs in all sectors and the application of the public appointment bond in the Public Administration", as well as "an end to abuses and turnover in internships, an end to the use of Employment-Insertion Contracts or similar measures" to replace civil service jobs.
Among the various demands, they also asked for a "monitoring system that ensures continuous action against the abusive use of fixed-term contracts and all illegal forms of contracting, and the joint and permanent coordination and intervention of labour inspectorates, social security and the Tax Authority, with clear guidelines for the protection of workers and compliance with their rights", adds the document, which was put to the vote today during the Interjovem Lisbon district conference.
As far as working hours are concerned, Interjovem Lisboa advocates "the establishment of a maximum working week of 35 hours for all workers without any reduction in pay", the "repeal of all adaptability schemes, time banks and concentrated working hours provided for in the Labour Code", as well as the limitation of night work, shift work and continuous working.
For the defence and strengthening of public services and the social functions of the state, they advocate investing in the health service (SNS), "valuing the salaries and careers of its professionals, providing them with the material and human resources to meet the needs of the population and users", and" valuing free, democratic and quality" public schools, valuing teachers, non-teaching staff, and researchers.
They also call for a public system of Universal Social Security and Solidarity to be guaranteed as a social function of the state, as well as the "definition of policies and public investment that reduce the costs of rents and interest in access to housing", to say that young people have access to housing.
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