Social Pacts in Portugal
1990s
Background
Portuguese social dialogue in the current form did not start until
the mid 1980s, a decade after the revolution in 1974. The status
of social partners was legitimised and enhanced as they got
involved in social dialogue. With the establishment of the
Standing Committee for Social Dialogue (CPCS) as institutional
basis of tripartism in 1984, national social dialogue in Portugal
has gained momentum. As for economic background, in the mid 1980s,
Portugal suffered from macroeconomic imbalances and unemployment.
Although inflation had fallen since the 1970s, the problem of
balance of payment deficits and public debt persisted. Social
dialogue has become an important means of governance in preparation
for Portugal’s integration into the European Community
(1985), and in facilitating structural changes in society and
economy. After 1990, the commitment to eventual adoption of the EURO led to consensus on an anti-inflationary and lower public debt
strategy.
In the 1980s, the agreements through social dialogue were limited
to recommendations on incomes and pricing policy. In the 1990s,
they moved on to a higher level with social partners engaging in
dialogue on a wide range of policy issues. Comprehensive economic and social agreements were reached in 1990,
1996 and in 1997. These pacts covered a wide range of topics from
incomes policy, employment policy, education and vocational
training, working time and conditions and social security reform to
the regulation of industrial relations. However, their
implementation has been very problematic, partly because the
largest workers’ organisation, CGTP
(Confederação Geral dos Travalhadores
Portugueses - General Confederation of Portuguese Workers) was
not a signatory party. The CGTP was often heavily
involved in the negotiation of comprehensive social pacts, but did
not become a signatory member. This led to problems in the
implementation of the pacts because it left the CGTP’s
membership, encompassing the large majority of unionised workers,
in effect outside the agreement. Industrial relations remained
antagonistic which impeded the implementation of the pacts.
Despite the far-reaching content of the social pacts agreed in the
1990s, they have not been effectively implemented.
The newly elected government in 2000 decided not to pursue
comprehensive agreements. Instead, they chose to pursue social
pacts focused on specific issues. Hence, in accordance with the
government stance, in 2001 three separate issue specific pacts were
agreed to — agreements on employment policy, the labour
market and education and training; on working conditions, work
hygiene and safety and work accident prevention as well as on the
modernisation of social protection. Except for the latter, which
was not signed by the employers’ organisation, these
agreements were concluded by the government and employers’
and workers’ organisations including the CGTP.
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