The secretary-general of the CGTP stated this Saturday that he hopes the UGT will not sign the agreement on changes to labour law, while the deputy secretary-general of the UGT replied that he is “almost certain” the national secretariat will reject the proposal. Despite noting that he does not want to anticipate “decisions that will be taken by collegiate bodies,” UGT deputy secretary-general Sérgio Monte stated he is “almost certain” that the “approximately 85” members of the union's national secretariat “are part of this majority of nearly 80% of Portuguese people” who reject this labour proposal. The statement was made following a question from journalist Maria Flor Pedroso during a debate organised by the Causa Pública Association regarding his “bet” on the decision of the UGT national secretariat, which meets on Thursday to decide whether or not to reach an agreement within the Social Concertation framework on the proposed changes to labour law, and was strongly applauded by the audience. Sérgio Monte was referring to an Intercampus poll indicating that 77.3% of respondents believe the proposed changes to labour law benefit companies more, and 76.6% argue that they should instead benefit workers more. Previously, when asked about the same issue, the CGTP secretary-general stressed that “the UGT will do what workers expect from a trade union, which is to reject the labour package.” In a speech during an earlier panel, sociologist and former Left Bloc MP José Soeiro criticised the “role” of the President of the Republic “in recent weeks,” considering it “negative,” and suggested that António José Seguro “is trying to avoid a confrontation with the Government” by not acknowledging that the negotiation process has taken place mostly outside the Social Concertation framework and that the latest proposed version continues to maintain “several measures of the most dubious constitutionality,” particularly regarding dismissals, waiver credits, and strikes. Recalling the convergent general strike that united the CGTP and UGT in December last year against changes to labour legislation, the professor at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto also called for “maximum unity and convergence” among unions and left-wing parties to “resist and refuse this proposal” and to “make the existing social majority count” against the document. “I strongly endorse this appeal by José Soeiro that this should indeed be a turning point so that this social majority that actually exists - which unfortunately does not exist in other matters but does in this one - is taken advantage of,” corroborated Alexandra Leitão, a jurist and former Minister of State Modernisation and Public Administration in the second António Costa government, who was moderating the panel. Labour law: New version of the draft bill delivered to social partners. “We are far from an agreement,” says UGT.