The General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses, CGTP [1]) and the General Workers’ Union (União Geral de Trabalhadores, UGT [2]) have been very concerned about the effects of the global economic crisis in Portugal and its developments in economic
According to Eurostat harmonised data, Portugal ranks eighth out of the 27 European Member States (EU27) in terms of unemployment. While the average unemployment rate for the EU27 stood at 8.9% in May 2009, it amounted to 9.3% in Portugal. Unemployment has risen significantly since 2005, when
On 7 May 2009, the Council of Ministers in Portugal approved four bills – to be submitted to the parliament – amending and enforcing the Labour Code, which came into effect on 17 February 2009 (*PT0811019I* [1]). The social partners were asked to issue their comments on the proposed legislation
At the beginning of June 2009, the employer organisations in the construction and real estate sectors publicised their plan to create their own confederation, which will be named the Confederation of Construction and Real Estate (Confederação da Construção e do Imobiliário, CCI).
According to Law No. 12-A/2008 establishing provisions on careers and remuneration regimes of staff fulfilling public functions in Portugal (*PT0705019I* [1], *PT0708039I* [2], *PT0706069I* [3]), the special career provisions of some specific professional groups – such as teachers, doctors and
After the decree regulating the performance assessment of school teachers (Decree No. 2/2008 of 10 January) came into force, Portugal’s Ministry of Education (Ministério da Educação, ME [1]) gave schools a maximum of six months to launch the performance assessment process. However, the trade unions
The tripartite agreement for a new system of regulation of industrial relations, employment policy and social protection [1] in Portugal was signed on 25 June 2008 by the Portuguese government and all of the social partners, with the exception of the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers
According to the tripartite landmark agreement signed in 2006 (*PT0612029I* [1]), the statutory minimum wage (/retribuição mínima mensal garantida/, RMMG) in Portugal should increase at an annual rate of about 5.3% during the period 2007–2011. The agreement allowed for a substantial RMMG increase of
In November 2008, the Portuguese government announced the nationalisation of the Portuguese Business Bank (Banco Português de Negócios, BPN [1]). The bank has sustained heavy losses partly due to the global financial crisis unveiling since the autumn of 2008 and is suspected of mismanagement, for
On 14 October 2008, the Minister of State and Finance, Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, announced at a press conference that the pay increase for public employees for 2009 would be 2.9%. This figure represents a 0.4% gain in purchasing power, taking into account the average inflation forecast of 2.5%