Portuguese Constitutional Court guarantees secure employment for public sector

In an attempt to introduce further savings in the public sector, the Portuguese government proposed legislation which would see public sector workers facing the choice between remaining in unpaid training for up to 12 months or resigning in order to collect unemployment benefits. This would have been the choice for those workers currently undergoing a retraining programme and unable to find a new position in the public sector, under the so-called “public sector requalification bill”. This week saw the Constitutional Court throw out government legislation for the third time in a year when the bill was sent for review by President Aníbal Cavaco Silva.

The principles of trust between employer and employee, as well as the violation of “guarantees of secure employment”, have been cited as the reasoning behind the unconstitutional ruling. CESI has repeatedly said that the importance of trust between employers and employees in the public sector cannot be understated. Without this trust, employees feel considerably less secure. This undoubtedly impacts on the quality of work and therefore the quality of public services provided. This issue and many more related to the challenges in the public sector were highlighted by CESI at a Policy Dialogue organised together with the European Policy Centre.

CESI President Romain Wolff and Secretary General Klaus Heeger visited Lisbon in June this year, together with Spanish member organisations, in a demonstration of solidarity against the one-sided and  austerity measures being imposed by governments in the Iberian Peninsula. During the press conference, CESI President Romain Wolff commented: “What unites us today, among other things, is our strong commitment to social dialogue which we have seen diluted in recent years as a result of the crisis. Successful solutions will be the solutions which workers are at the centre of.” It is clear to CESI that the court ruling this week could have been avoided if more social dialogue had taken place, as the government would not have considered the legislation in the first place.

Discussing the court ruling, Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “CESI welcomes the judgement by the Constitutional Court. If governments are able to pass this sort of legislation which strips workers of important rights then it is important to have an institution like the Court which can reassess the impact on workers lives. How could the government expect public sector workers to undergo up to a year of unpaid training? This would only result in higher unemployment, and then higher costs in terms of unemployment benefits.”

Mr Heeger will be attending this year’s Public Sector Efficiency Conference in Vilnius, held under the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU, during which he will stand up for decisions such as that of the Constitutional Court in Portugal and defend the rights of workers to secure employment in the public sector.