Viseu, Portugal, Aug. 8, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, has acknowledged that the draft labour bill is still under discussion between social partners, before moving on to the political party discussion phase, and only then will the new framework be defined.
"Transformations and changes involve discussion, and we are here to discuss. We are here to debate with democratic humility, but with the firmness of those who have goals to achieve," said Luís Montenegro.
On the sidelines of the inauguration of the 633rd edition of the São Mateus Fair in Viseu, the prime minister spoke to journalists on Thursday evening about the labour bill, adding that he had presented the draft bill in statutory tripartite talks between the government, employers and unions.
“We will establish a dialogue with the social partners, both employers and workers, and we will try to ensure that this dialogue gives rise to a proposal that is as consensual as possible. That is the stage we are at, and then there will be another phase of political party discussion. We have not yet reached that stage, but when we do, we will proceed and then a decision will be made,” he said.
Luís Montenegro added that he hoped “the Portuguese people can be sure” that the government wants “the community and society” to accompany the government on “the path of transformation and development of the country”.
“But we are not going to drag out the discussions. All of this has a timetable, but it is to be fulfilled, it is to be done. We are not here to stall or bog down discussions, we are here to act with openness, with a spirit of dialogue, with a constructive spirit, and that is what we are going to do,” he promised.
The prime minister took the opportunity to highlight the issues on which he was questioned by journalists, such as the labour and immigration bills, as well as the privatisation of TAP, to say that, “in one fell swoop”, we are talking about economic competitiveness, human resource training, restructuring of public services, the strategic mobility sector and support for the economy, he listed.
Montenegro also cited “the reduction of taxes on income from work, the regulation of immigration...”, to say that “this is a government that is governing, that is doing what it has to do, fulfilling its programme, transforming its country”.
The goal, said the prime minister, is “a competitive labour market that provides security and stability for workers and also makes companies more competitive”.
In his view, the proposed regime will ‘bring more economic growth, more wealth creation’ and also ‘better wages and also greater capacity for the state to have revenues so that it can then have social policies that leave no one behind; to have policies of solidarity’.
“All of this is interconnected and we are here to take the discussions to the point where they culminate in decisions,” he said.
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