“The times we live in do not justify division, but unity”. This is how Arménio Carlos, former secretary general of the CGTP (from 2012 to 2020) looks at the current political and social situation in Portugal, after several months of street protests by various sectors.
But the position of Arménio Carlos does not necessarily mean less fighting, the former general secretary of the CGTP explains to DN. On the contrary. “I believe that what is justified and demanded at this time is for everyone to join forces and wills so that what is essential is put right: improving living and working conditions, with the well-being of families considered a priority and, don’t stop citizen participation after that,” he explains. I.e: “Effect participatory democracy by claiming what they are entitled to and demanding that the government listen to them.”
However, the national context is an exception. This is because a government with an absolute majority is quite rare in the set of 27 member states of the European Union. And in the case of Greece, for example, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ New Democracy majority could be in jeopardy, as parliamentary elections are scheduled for May.
In addition, member states have either minority governments (for example in France) or coalition governments (as in Germany, where there is a tripartite government).
“Portugal is a country with few social conflicts compared to the European average. It is not new, but always.”
António Costa Pinto, university professor and researcher at ICS
In Portugal, the absolute majority of January last year comes after seven years of rule by the same party (PS). Does this mean that protests here may have less impact than in other contexts? “As far as we can see, the question does not refer to governments with an absolute or relative majority”, explains António Costa Pinto, university professor and researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences (ICS) of the University of Lisbon. However, the current situation (absolute majority + inflation and rising cost of living + housing) “is favorable” for demonstrations and protests. “It is a global context of wage depreciation and, unlike others, it favors the emergence of these issues. In a sense, when we look back, the time of troika was more favorablebecause the fundamental difference is that there were wage cuts and, as we all know, inflation has different and more differentiated dynamics between, say, the public and private sectors,” he analyses.
“We have a society with few conflicts”
There have been demonstrations in several European countries in recent weeks. The French case is the most mediatized, with millions of people taking to the streets to challenge the increase in the retirement age. The violence escalated and images of confrontations between police and demonstrators piled up.
Can this scenario be repeated here? For António Costa Pinto it is not entirely clear that this is the case. “I would say no. Portugal is a country with few social conflicts compared to the European average”, something that “is not new, but alwaysThis means that “the number of strikes, trade union mobilizations” per year is “lower” than abroad. “the business cycle is favourable, but the tradition of social movements points firstly to a smaller mobilization and secondly to what we call a smaller dynamic of transgressive social movements”.
“When we x-ray what has come out here, we see (…) there is a platform of people here, that everything is fine at first, but when other types of decisions are needed, they sometimes fail .”
Sérgio Felgueiras, Professor at the Higher Institute of Police Science and Homeland Security
Another specialist in these matters, Superintendent Sérgio Felgueiras, professor at the Higher Institute of Police Science and Internal Security (ISCPSI) and with a dissertation on social movements, refers to the DN who, in the Portuguese context “there is a framework of action to protest”, but often “it is not possible to mobilize people. This largely reflects a lack of participation of social structures in Portuguese political life”. Furthermore, he believes, “we are seeing much more of a protest platform these days. do it yourself of organizations and movements. But this also has a problem: the lack of leadership”.
On the other hand, Arménio Carlos believes that the most important thing is to fight and “make democracy effective”, yes, but always “respecting the goods of others and not getting involved in vandalism”. These acts, he says, “never aid workers’ struggles, they always harm public opinion and facilitate the government’s positions, whatever they may be.”.
The new movements: continuity or ephemeral?
Founded in 2018, STOP (Union of All Education Professionals) emerged as the 23rd teachers’ union at the time. The predicate has now been extended to other professionals in education. Despite its recent founding date compared to other education unions (Fenprof, for example, was created in 1983), the ability to unite and mobilize around the union’s initiatives.
On the other hand, movements of anonymous citizens are also starting to emerge, such as Vida Justa, which already organized a demonstration demanding better living conditions and decent housing.
But looking at the Portuguese context, what possibilities do these two (and so many other) cases have to assert themselves in a scenario where so-called traditional trade unionism still persists? According to Superintendent Sérgio Felgueiras, “according to a classic agenda of studies in this field, for the movement to be successful, it is necessary to have and be able to mobilize resources”.”It is necessary to understand whether there is even an openness in the system for creating social movements, whether this is the time when we are able to claim and a message is needed, which has to convince people to to participate . So there are two lines of thought. Which?”Why it’s important for people to join a movement, why it’s worth it and there should be a message of hope. There must be a will and need to change the situation. That’s what moves people”. These three dimensions (means, opportunity and a just cause) are, he says, “hard to find”. , that at first everything is fine, but that when other kinds of decisions are needed, they sometimes fail. Because of this, some movements appear and remain and others eventually disappear.”, completely.
“I believe that what is justified and required at this time is for everyone to join forces and will so that the essential is put right: improving living and working conditions, where the well-being of families is considered essential.”
Arménio Carlos, former Secretary General of the CGTP
Arménio Carlos has a different view: more unity is needed, not more unions. “It’s not because we have different opinions that we can stop being in the same union or in the same union organization and pull everyone to the same side. When unions are formed one after the other, life has already shown that they do not contribute to unity, but to division,” he said.
Finally, António Costa Pinto sees these movements as carriers of “a new kind of creativity” when it comes to protest. A protest that, he repeats, was made “with its classic formulas: the strike and the demonstration”.
Protests in Europe
France: There have been protests on French soil for several weeks now. The basis is the controversial law of President Emmanuel Macron that raises the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. This increase was approved without a vote, with the government invoking an article in the French constitution that applies to specific laws (affecting the budget, for example) – the opposition can only reverse this situation by introducing motions of censure (as already done twice and failed). As a result, clashes between police and demonstrators have increased in several French cities, including the capital Paris. In addition, there have also been strikes in various sectors, such as garbage collectors.
UK: With less violence than in France, discontent has also taken to the streets in the UK in recent weeks. Unions from various social sectors took to the streets to protest against inflation, low wages and the rising cost of living in the country. In fact, in early February, the Associated Press described this wave of strikes and protests as the biggest protest the UK has seen “in decades”. The strikes mobilized nearly half a million workers, including train drivers, airport workers, nurses and teachers, according to the Trades Union Congress. Former Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn joined some of these demonstrations.
Germany: In recent weeks, Germany has been plagued by strikes in various sectors. At the source: higher wages given the inflation we are experiencing. Both unions at the base of the protests – Ver.di and EVG – are demanding salary increases of 10.5% (inflation in Germany last year was 9%). On March 8 (International Women’s Day), nurseries and kindergarten teachers in most of the country stopped working. Three days later – and after a long dispute with Ver.di – the postal services in Germany increased the wages of their nearly 160 thousand employees by 11% and 16% respectively. On March 14 and 15, it was the turn of hospital and nursing home employees. Last Monday, the protest spread to the transport sector, which was practically at a standstill.
Source: DN
