The Minister of Labor, Ana Mendes Godinho, this Saturday at the commemorative conference of the 45th anniversary of the central union UGT, defended the creation of “inclusion mechanisms” for worker representatives in the boards of large companies.
“We always have new challenges ahead and as we celebrate 50 years on April 25, we must take further steps in this democratization in the workplace,” the minister said during the closing session of the event in Lisbon. , in defense of “the ability to find mechanisms to involve employee representatives in the governance of large companies”.
The Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security also recalled that for this to happen, it must be ensured that there is social dialogue.
‘And that must be the instrument [feito] through trade unions, negotiations and IRCT – Instrument for Collective Labor Regulation,” the government official pointed out.
In her intervention at the conference “Social consultation in Portugal and the role of UGT”, Ana Mendes Godinho also mentioned that the number of IRCTs increased by 54% in 2023, which was due to “the measures taken by the government” within the scope of the Income Agreement to “positively discriminate” against companies that conduct an “active social dialogue”.
“An active social dialogue is democracy in the workplace. This is what we must increasingly encourage, because this is also the path to increasing the competitiveness of companies,” he said.
“Employees with more rights are better employees. It is employees who participate and increase the competitiveness and growth of companies,” the minister emphasized.
For his part, the general secretary of the UGT, Mário Mourão, stated that the UGT is “a plural trade union federation”, a defender of “reformist trade unionism”, “participation”, a “proposal” and that it is a development model of economic and social basis based on “social dialogue and negotiation”.
The union leader also believed that social dialogue is “the basis for cohesion,” for a “climate of social peace” and for “more effective” implementation of policies.
The conference presented the book on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the trade union centre, “A Concertação Social em Portugal eo Papel da UGT”, written by Cristina Rodrigues, researcher and coordinator of the Appeal Committee for Unemployment and Social Security. researcher, former naval officer and currently full member of the Naval Academy.
Carlos Moedas, President of the Lisbon City Council, Francisco Assis, President of the Economic and Social Council (CES) and Lucinda Dâmaso, President of the UGT, took part in the opening session of the conference.
Luís Filipe Pereira, former president of CES, and João Proença, former general secretary of UGT, commented on the book’s authors’ research on social dialogue.
The commemorative event was closed by the Minister of Labor and the Secretary General of the UGT.
Source: DN
