PORTUGAL: THE RIGHT TO INDIGNATION

"The Right to Indignation" stands above the declaration of the independent trade union SINERGIA that I visited together with the members of the Worldboard of WOW one day before the general strike of November 24. SINERGIA is the trade union of Portuguese workers in the oil, gas and electricity sector and an affiliate of WOW.

The trade union says in its statement that it wants to support the general strike even though it has as an independent union no place in the socio-economic dialogue with government and employers and therefore does not have influence on any national decision whatsoever. This is a deplorable situation taking into consideration that the majority of unions in Portugal is independent.

SINERGIA also emphasizes in its statement that as a humanist-oriented trade union it considers a strike as the last resort while emphasising on social dialogue as an instrument for the solution of social conflicts.

The Right to Indignation

 

The current state of national finances, the result of governments of the last decade combined with a difficult global and international financial situation, has caused chaos in the social and economic life of the country.

Although the independent trade unions, the majority of trade unions in the country, are still not represented in the social dialogue and therefore not involved in the development of policies which have led to the declaration of a general strike on 24 November, SINERGIA considers that there are sufficient reasons to show indignation about the direction the national economy is going and is undermining seriously social and economic life of most Portuguese families.

Therefore SINERGIA announces the general strike, taking into account the real concerns of all workers:

- For investment and more dynamics in the productive sector.

- To combat fraud, tax evasion and undeclared work.

- Against the impoverishment of the workers and the people in general.

- For the defense of the basic social functions of the state.

- For the defense and improvement of public services.

- Against the arbitrary elimination of social services.

- Against unemployment and job insecurity.

- Against lowering wages and pensions.

Sinergia is based on the values of humanism with an emphasis on social dialogue and consultation to which the strike is considered as a last resort for the solution of social conflicts. The choice is (always) yours!