Changing Employment and Labour Relations in the Shadow of the Troika: Evidence from the Case of Portugal

In the period of 2011-2014, Portugal went through major social and economic policy reforms as envisaged in the bailout program signed between the national government and the Troika institutions. The aim of this paper is to map and discuss the measures implemented in the realms of collective bargaining, employment protection and working conditions at large, paying attention to both the content and the method of decision of those measures. Was there any sort of negotiation or tradeoff based on social dialogue? How did the adoption of the reforms impact on the employment regime and the system of labour relations in this country? Contributions from previous national and international studies help us identify the distinctive traits of this period vis-à-vis the tradition of social dialogue and social pacts in Portugal.

Our analysis is based on existing literature, legislation, official statistics, and first-hand data collected through interviews with a total of eight high-level officials from the workers’ and employers’ organizations with a seat at the Standing Council of Social Concertation.

Co-author:

Maria da Paz Campos Lima, CESIS – Centre for Studies for Social Intervention, pazmlima@gmail.com