PCP wants 25 working days of vacation for all workers

"The PCP has just submitted a bill to the Assembly of the Republic aimed at enshrining the right to a minimum of 25 working days of annual vacation for all workers, both in the private sector and in public administration," announced communist MP Alfredo Maia today during a press conference at the party's headquarters in Porto.

With this legislative initiative, the PCP also proposes, in addition to restoring the right to "25 working days of vacation until the worker turns 39 years of age", increasing it to "26 working days until the worker turns 49 years of age", increasing it to "27 working days until the worker turns 59 years of age", as well as increasing it to "28 working days from the age of 59", according to the draft law to which Lusa had access.

According to Alfredo Maia, this bill aims to "restore a right that was already enshrined in law, albeit imperfectly."

"Regarding administrative workers, there was, in fact, compensation in terms of days based on their age. In the private sector and in the state-owned business sector, this right was enshrined as a bonus for workers' attendance. Those who had no absences would receive up to three additional days of vacation," the deputy explained.

What the PCP intends to do with this initiative is to "establish the effective right to 25 working days of vacation", taking into account the need to guarantee rest to workers who, according to Alfredo Maia, are being "subjected to rhythms and intensities of the exploitation of their work".

“The addition of one working day of vacation for every ten years of service actually provided is also guaranteed,” reads the proposed law.

With this bill, the PCP wants to gain an "effective right regardless of the conditions for obtaining it."

Alfredo Maia considers that this represents "progress compared to the regime that was in force until 2012 and which was, at the time, revoked by the PSD/CDS government."

The PCP says it hopes the bill will be approved.

"We hope it is accepted, because it is only fair that it be. What we're talking about is recognizing workers' effective right to an increase in vacation days, since this increase is truly essential for restoring energy and ensuring a longer rest period that is justified given the current working conditions," he concluded.

When asked by Lusa about how he sees the work week being reduced to four days, MP Alfreda Maia explained that the PCP defends, above all, the need to guarantee the "reduction of the working week to 35 hours per week for all workers in all sectors and the limit of seven hours per day."

"As soon as this proposal is concretely on the table, we will state our position, and our position in principle prior to this discussion is to guarantee that there will be a reduction in the length of the working day without loss of pay," he said.

"In the event of moving towards a model of this nature, it is necessary to ensure that under no circumstances is the worker penalized in the remuneration for his work and, therefore, even in a four-day scenario, the remuneration cannot be reduced in terms of remuneration at work, or in terms of the duration of the vacation period or any additional condition on the scheduling of vacations," he added.