Divisions in Portugal

There are increasing divisions between the two major confederations in Portugal since the general strike in December, which was called by the CGTP but was not supported by the UGT. The strike was in opposition to government plans to change employment legislation.

The CGTP claims that the government's latest amendments to the law are "made to measure" for the UGT as its local organisations will have greater representation and negotiation rights than their CGTP counterparts. This is because the UGT is part of a tri-partite body on negotiations which the CGTP has refused to join.

The UGT has rejected this criticism, pointing out that the new legislation requires unions to be independent, and has stated that the CGTP's action in calling a general strike was "precipitate and divisive".