RTP calls for voluntary job losses

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In September 2002, the board of the Portuguese national broadcasting company, RTP, called for some 1,000 of its employees to resign, with additional compensation, or take early retirement. The move is linked to major restructuring of RTP. By November, 600 employees had left the company.

In late September 2002, the board of the Portuguese national broadcasting company (Rádio Televisão Portuguesa, RTP) proposed that a number of employees resign voluntarily or, in the case of those aged 55 or over, apply for early retirement, by 31 November 2002. This scheme may affect a large proportion of RTP's 1,800-strong workforce - currently, the departure of around 1,000 employees is forecast, with compensation payments to be set above the legally required limit.

In its manifesto for the March 2002 general election, the centre-right Social Democrat Party (Partido Social Democrata PPD/PSD) called for an end to the large deficit that has existed for several years at RTP and the closure of one of its channels. PPD/PSD subsequently became a partner in the new coalition government (PT0205101N), and soon afterwards announced that it would seek to achieve these aims. This sparked a heated debate about the role of television as a public service broadcaster and the maintenance of the various Portuguese public television channels. One of the most controversial points was the role and powers of the existing advisory board in the running of RTP.

The debate was accompanied by various street demonstrations throughout April and May, not only by employees and their representatives but also by viewers, political parties and other groups. Currently, it is known only that fundamental changes will occur in January 2003, with the new-look RTP not yet having been unveiled.

Two aspects of the current situation at RTP are of particular concern to employees:

• the invitation to employees to resign by mutual consent made by the new board, which is seeking to reduce the workforce, is considered as a form of coercion by the company's workers' commission. Despite the fact that the announcement was merely exploratory in nature, it is causing some unrest, particularly in sectors of RTP that it is feared will disappear; and
• the prospect of RTP's company-level collective agreement being jeopardised after restructuring.

In late September, RTP employees held a mass meeting and decided to create a common front involving both the trade unions and the workers’ commission. A street demonstration then took place. The employee representative bodies met the RTP board, but after the meeting stated that they had not been not sufficiently informed in relation to the management model and plan that are to be implemented in order to be able to see the need for mass resignations.

The General Workers' Union (União Geral de Trabalhadores, UGT) has expressed concern over the uncertainty of the future of the company and its employees, and believes that issues concerning the content of public service television, the role of advertising and financing should be addressed.

By November 2002, some 600 of the RTP’s employees had already negotiated their departure or left the company as a result of some of its departments being spun off to form associate companies.