Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2004, publiée 93ème session CIT (2005)

Convention (n° 122) sur la politique de l'emploi, 1964 - Portugal (Ratification: 1981)

1. The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period June 2002 to May 2004 including the observations from the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP) and the General Workers’ Union (UGT). It also notes the discussion on the application of this Convention in the Committee on the Application of Standards at the 91st Session (June 2003) of the Conference. The Committee notes that, in a context of recession, the employment situation has deteriorated significantly during the period at issue, with an OECD standardized unemployment rate of 6.4 per cent in 2003, compared to 5.1 per cent in 2002 and 4.1 per cent in 2001. At the same time, however, the share of long-term unemployment has continued to decline from 38.1 per cent of all unemployed in 2001 to 32 per cent in 2003. The Government points out that, in spite of the deterioration of the employment situation, the unemployment rate is still among the lowest in the European Union. The Government further notes that, although the employment rate decreased to 67.1 per cent in 2003, it remains above the target for the European Employment Strategy for 2005 and the gap between men and women is narrowing in so far as the loss of employment has affected men to a larger extent. The Committee notes that part-time work, two-thirds of which is carried out by women, amounted to 10 per cent of total employment in 2003.

2. General and sectoral economic policies. The Government refers in its report to the Programme for Productivity and Economic Growth, adopted in July 2002, covering a set of planned economic reforms. It aims at stimulating job creation, including measures to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit, stimulate innovation and the knowledge society and simplify administrative and regulatory procedures related to the creation and operation of companies. Further, the Recovery Programme for Depressed Areas and Sectors, adopted in March 2003, introduced a set of measures to contribute to reducing the economic and social imbalances among the regions, including public sharing in the costs for maintaining jobs in the case of acquisition of companies in serious financial difficulty. In the view of the CGTP, however, the Government is not taking the necessary measures to achieve the employment policy objectives of the Convention. In its view the Government bears considerable responsibility for the worsening of the economic crisis as its economic policy has been centred on reducing the budget deficit and containing domestic procurement, holding wages down, and reducing the purchasing power of civil servants. In this context the Committee recalls that pursuant to the Convention, measures to be adopted for attaining the employment objectives shall be decided on and kept under review, "within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy" (Article 2, paragraph (a), of the Convention). The Committee asks the Government to detail in its next report the manner in which the main macroeconomic policy elements - such as monetary and budgetary policies, and policies related to prices, incomes and salaries - contribute to the promotion of employment.

3. Labour market and training policies. The Government states that the National Action Plan for Employment for the period 2003-06 gives priority to the prevention of long-term unemployment and the strategy for lifelong learning. It refers to measures taken to encourage: early retirement among unemployed workers above 58 years; vocational training for the unemployed; and geographical and professional mobility. It also outlines the forthcoming implementation of a multi-year vocational training plan in close cooperation with employment centres. The CGTP asserts that a more systematic evaluation of the active employment measures is called for. The Committee requests the Government to report on how the measures it describes contribute to an effective and durable integration into employment of the beneficiaries of these measures, and to indicate the data on which it has relied in making this assessment. The Committee also notes that the CGTP is concerned about the effect on job security of the amendments introduced in labour law. It refers, inter alia, to the introduction of fixed-term contracts for up to six years which it asserts will lead to increased precariousness of employment and decreased attention to the need for vocational training of workers. The Committee requests the Government to describe in more detail the anticipated and actual impact on employment and skills of the measures taken to increase labour law flexibility.

4. Consultation of the representatives of the persons affected. As a follow-up to the discussion in the Conference Committee, the Government emphasizes in its report that consultation with the social partners on the different aspects of employment policy is ensured not only at the national level but also at the regional level through their participation in the advisory councils in vocational training centres and vocational training institutions, as well as in the group for the technical follow-up to the national employment plan. It also states that, since June 2003, contacts are under way to conclude a "Social contract for competitiveness and employment" with the social partners. In this context, CGTP regrets that some of the measures foreseen in the Agreement on Employment, Labour Market, Education and Training Policy, signed in February 2001, have not been acted upon, and is of the view that the tripartite follow-up to the implementation of this agreement is insufficient. The Committee asks the Government to report on all new measures that may have been carried out to ensure that the representatives of the persons affected by the measures to be taken cooperate fully in the formulation of employment policies and assist in enlisting support for such policies, as called for in Article 3 of the Convention.