CTP insists on the need for “a productivity shock”

“IT IS i need to produce in order to be able to distribute ", begins by affirming Francisco Calheiros in an interview with the Agency Lusa in the context of World Tourism Day that is celebrated on Sunday, day 27.

The president of CTP considers that wages, with the exception of the minimum wage, cannot be determined by decree and that increased productivity requires changes that go far beyond labor law.

“ The wages, apart from the minimum wage, cannot be defined by decree. You have to produce in order to distribute. Only the minimum wage can be defined by decree. Or we do a productivity shock in this country, and attention, productivity shock has nothing to do with workers alone, in any way ", he stressed.

CTP is in the Standing Committee on Social Concertation, participating in negotiations and discussions with the Government and trade union and business confederations, where the reform of labour law was discussed this year.

The productivity shock “is not solely about changing labour legislation. It has to do with a lot more than that. It even goes through the training of entrepreneurs, I have no doubt about it, but we must begin. And this was a piece that was fundamental”, he considered.

The discussion about labor legislation is, for Francisco Calheiros, one of the pieces of this process. The President of the CTP considers that the lack of agreement was a missed opportunity and argues that the subject should return to the Social Concertation.

“ I think it was a very big missed opportunity, I said, and I think the government should revisit this issue and bring it to the Social Concert again.”

Asked whether the proposal of EUR 970 is the value advocated by CTP still for 2027, said yes.

“As far as the minimum wage is concerned, what we signed is that in 2026 it is EUR 920 and EUR 970 is planned for 2027 and that is what CTP stands for.”.

The Secretary-General of the UGT proposed on September 16 that the national minimum wage rise to EUR 1,000 next year, while the Secretary-General of CGTP argued that the country needs “a wage shock”.

“ We made a proposal for the minimum wage to be at least EUR 1,000” next year, the Secretary-General of the UGT said, in statements to journalists leaving the Permanent Committee for Social Concertation (CPCS) meeting, which was attended by the Minister of Finance to submit information on the proposed State Budget for 2027 (OE2027).

Recalling that the current tripartite agreement foresees that the national minimum wage will rise from the current EUR 920 to EUR 970, Mário Mourão considered that this target is insufficient to face “the difficulties faced by families”, particularly in terms of inflation, rising fuel prices and housing credit.

In the document delivered to the Government, the UGT further argues that the reference for the overall increase in wages (disputed in collective bargaining) is 5.5% in 2027, above the 4.5% provided for in the agreement signed between UGT, business confederations and government in 2024.

In turn, the Secretary-General of CGTP considered that the presentation made by the Minister of Finance is “disconnected with reality”, not responding to “fundamental issues”, such as “strengthening and improving public services”, including health and education, “difficulty in access to housing” or increased cost of living.

In this sense, CGTP has again defended “a general and significant increase in wages by 15%, with a minimum of 150 euros” for all workers and that the national minimum wage rises to 1,100 euros from January 2027.

Francisco Calheiros had already been little available at the exit of this meeting for this analysis, having now added that there will be a CTP board meeting to discuss this matter.

“ When we say the minimum wage is 920 or goes to 970, I'm not telling companies they have to pay 970. ... This is a minimum level for companies that may be in difficulty. I think that the geostrategic situation we are going through, the problem with fuel costs” calls for caution, he argues.

“ It's proven, Business Roundtable has proven this, that big companies pay much more than small and larger ones. Is it by chance? Nope. Then we need to motivate, we need to encourage, both from a fiscal point of view and from a strategic point of view, the merger of the company to create large companies, exporting companies, where we invest more in research and development, where we export more and where we can pay better”, he concluded.