AUSTERITY IS NOT THE SOLUTION THE PORTUGUESE CASE

1. AUSTERITY IS NOT THE SOLUTIONTHE PORTUGUESE CASE TOKYO 10-11 JUNE 2013

2. SBSI- SINDICATO DOS BANCARIOS DO SUL E ILHAS • THE BIGGEST PORTUGUESE TRADE UNION • FEBASE AFFILLIATTE- REPRESENTING 80% OF THE WORKERS OF THE PORTUGUESE FINANCIAL SECTOR • UNI AFFILIATTE

3. AUSTERITY AND MORE AUSTERITY • The Portuguese trade union movement has always been a firm believer and supporter of the opinion that austerity is not a solution neither for the labor market nor for the economy as a whole, but is, instead, the main instrument of the deterioration of both. • After a long period of full blown out austerity the results proved that austerity brings nothing but poverty, unemployment, the increase of discrimination and an economic market in dreadful agony.

4. The new found difficulties brought jobs loss, a more expensive cost of living and social conflicts, with privatizations (completed or in process) of everything owned by the state, private consumption being brought to a halt and a generalized sense of hopelessness which lead, on one hand, to a Diaspora of big business and investors, and on the other hand of high skilled and/or young workers that were forced to leave the country. • The trade union movement has also suffered; collective bargaining was seriously put into question with the refraining of sectorial extension protocols that drove away the employer’s federations from the negotiation table, and with the loss of importance and consequence of multilateral social dialogue.

5. REMEDY IS WORST THAN ILLNESS • Unemployment: • The overall unemployment rate currently stands at 17,8% (1th trimester of 2013) in line with a sharp growing unemployment tendency (the registered unemployment was 16,1; 12,7; 10,8 and 9,5% in 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009 respectively. • The Unemployment rate is presently around 970.000 unemployed people in a universe of 5.455,000 (active population) • 58,3% of unemployed people have not been able yet to find a job for more than 1 year, which means that more than half of our jobless are now long term unemployed, thus having fewer chances of labor market reintegration. • 60% of unemployed people are no longer eligible for unemployment benefits. • Youth unemployment is now 45,0%. This number is more than the double of the one registered in 2009 (20,0%).

6. Labour Market: • All compensations for dismissal have been reduced, going from 30 day compensation per year worked to 12 day compensation; the number of compensation days is expected to drop even further in the near future. • New rules were set for dismissal under the “Dissolution of the Job Post” provision. Now the firm criteria for this procedure was replaced by the employer’s definition of “relevant and non-discriminatory criteria” witch effectively makes dismissals much more flexible. Dismissal for inadequacy was also deregulated.

7. Employers can now determine in a direct negotiation with a worker, or a group of workers, a set number of supplementary work hours that workers will be subjected to (depending on the negotiation they can be rewarded with rest days, etc.) this form of imposed flexibility will be hard to inspect and to verify if there are any abuses. • Employers are no longer required to communicate to the Authority for Work Conditions (ACT) a vast set of information like, for example, headquarters, work accident insurance, number of workers on the pay-roll, copy of the worker’s schedule maps, etc. This makes the supervision and work inspection much more difficult. • Informal economy has sky-rocketed due to the high levels of taxation.

8. Social Security: • Pensions were cut (depending on income bracket) between 3,5% and 40%. • All social support subsidies such as: the income support allowance, senior citizens pension supplement, survivor and disease subsidies were either largely reduced or the conditions for appliance greatly tightened. • Beneficiaries from unemployment and disease benefits lost their exemption from contributions to the single social tax, now they also contribute with 6% and 5% respectively. • The unemployment benefits amount now drops 10% after the initial 180 days.

9. Collective bargaining: • Trade Union right to collective bargaining was seriously put into question. • The publication of collective bargaining extension protocols suffered severe restraints, therefore the number of workers covered dropped significantly from 1.407.000 workers covered in 2010 to only 327.000 in 2012. • The new adopted provisions made collective bargaining weight, therefore the number of collective agreements published diminished from 230 in 2010 to 85 in 2012.

10. Social Conditions: • Even after social transfers, there are still 16% of People at risk of poverty or social exclusion. • Social Solidarity institutions saw the aid requests increase for the double in the last 2 years and without this help the people at risk of poverty will be more than 43% • Education suffered drastic budget cuts, being the public sector with a higher rate of unemployed workers. • Health consumer’s taxes have been greatly increased.

11. Economy: • The Portuguese GDP decreased 5,2% in the last 3 years. • General wide-spread tax increases in all areas; Portuguese citizens now pay more than double of what they used to in taxes. • Household spending on day to day costs has been reduced • Households are not investing • Government spending on day to day costs has been reduced • Government is not investing in infrastructure • Company spending on day to day costs has been reduced • Companies are not investing

12. ALTERNATIVES • Troika / Employers Now Agree, even Mrs. Merkle, the austerity symbol in Europe, claims, now, for growth • Stimulate the domestic economy • Gains from the proposed restructure of the debt profile • A just distribution of the adjustment • Address the unemployment crisis • Growth will bring jobs • More retraining, upskilling

13. PORTUGUESES TRADE UNIONS AND UNI • MARKETS ARE GLOBAL • BANKS ARE GLOBAL • FINANCIAL PRODUCTS ARE GLOBAL • WORK IS A GLOBAL FUNCTION • PROBLEMS FOR WORKERS ARE GLOBAL • THE ONLY SOLUTION IS A GLOBAL UNION JUST AS UNI

14. I KNOW YOU ARE TIRED FOR BEING LISTENING ME • AFTER HAVE A NEW IDEA EACH ONE IS A NEW PERSON • EVERY PERSON IS THE RESULT OF ALL YOU HAVE READ, YOU WAS TOLD, YOU LEARNED AND YOU LIVED. ME TOO. • THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR ATTENTION AND TO MAKE ME BECOME ANOTHER PERSON, A RICHEST PERSON.