Le syndicalisme portugais et l’austérité : entre la force des protestations et la fragilité des alliances

Abstract

Résumé de l'article L'adoption de mesures d'austérité pour surmonter la crise des dettes souveraines de ces dernières années a accentué la fragilité des syndicats en tant qu'institutions, en mettant aussi à l'épreuve leur capacité de résistance en tant que mouvements. Il n'en demeure pas moins que les syndicats ont cherché à réagir, en s'insurgeant contre les politiques d'austérité. Toutefois, le syndicalisme demeure «orgueilleusement seul», touché par des divisions internes et influencé par des tendances partisanes, semblant dès lors peu enclin à former des alliances avec d'autres groupes et mouvements. Ces derniers, pourtant, partagent souvent des préoccupations semblables à celles des syndicats (la lutte contre la précarité au travail en constituant le meilleur exemple).Dans la première partie de l'article, nous synthétisons quelques-unes des mesures d'austérité, décrivons brièvement les deux principales confédérations syndicales portugaises ainsi que certains acteurs socioprofessionnels, et analysons leurs discours face à la crise. Dans la seconde partie, nous abordons les caractéristiques et les moments principaux des réactions syndicales et de la protestation sociale plus ample face à l'austérité. Finalement, nous identifions certains défis externes et internes auxquels le syndicalisme est confronté au Portugal. D'une part, les syndicats doivent résister aux pressions externes dictées par les politiques d'austérité; d'autre part, ils doivent adopter une action proactive «à partir de l'intérieur», en s'ouvrant à de nouveaux publics (travailleurs précaires non syndiqués, fortement touchés par la crise et l'austérité) et, par conséquent, à de nouvelles formes de protestation sociale. La création d'un syndicat dans le secteur de la musique, du spectacle et de l'audiovisuel et la lutte dans un centre d'appels dans le secteur de la santé sont, à cet égard, deux défis à l'autonomie et à la rénovation des pratiques syndicales, et elles constituent, peut-être, la voie d'un «syndicalisme de travailleurs précaires», inexistant jusqu'à présent.

Trade Unions and Facebook: The Need to Improve Dialogue and Expand Networks

“…Linking back to the discussions around union revitalisation, much of the focus has been on the potential for developing alliances with diverse social movements in order to defend a broader social justice agenda, connect labour issues with other causes, and organise hard-to-reach workers (Bernaciak et al 2014;Costa 2015;Waterman 2012). Here we can see that, at least on social media, organised labour may be missing out on expanding their influence.…”

“…The two Brazilian confederations have less homogeneous networks but are still mostly concentrated around union organisations: blue and green nodes represent 53 per cent of CUT's likes, and 51 per cent of those of FS. As the Brazilian trade union movement is often referenced as one of the benchmarks for 'social movement unionism', in which trade unions widen the scope of trade union action to link labour causes to other social justice agendas (Costa 2015;Waterman 2012), the higher diversity found in the CUT and FS networks may reflect this identity and a more conscious effort to use Facebook as a platform for outreach. Moreover, while CUT and FS like several mainstream and alternative media pages, the TUC is the only one from the three European confederations to like a media-related page, for the labour news source 'Labourstart.net'.…”

“…However, new forms of collective action that surfaced in the digital era can help organised labour to (re)engage meaningfully not only with its membership, but also with potential members and with society at large. For this to happen, a successful digital communications strategy for organised labour must take advantage of such increasing connectivity to widen the scope of trade union action and to forge alliances with other social movements (Costa 2015;Waterman 2012). Based on this idea, the aim of this policy brief is to assess the presence and the relationships brokered by trade union confederations through their online channels, in order to, first, find out who they are engaging with and, second, to consider whether these virtual connections have any implications for the wider discussion about union revitalisation.…”

Os Recursos De Poder Do Sindicalismo Português

“…Diversas reflexões têm apontado para os caminhos, mas também para as dificuldades de uma revitalização do sindicalismo português (COSTA, 2015b;STOLEROFF, 2013). Referindo-se, ainda, ao contexto de 2011-2015, Alan Stoleroff afirmava que: [...] tanto o sindicalismo moderado, negociador e concertador como o sindicalismo intransigente, reivindicativo e militante estão a ver reveladas as falhas dos seus programas de ação: ao nível macro, nem a UGT está a conseguir parar a recessão com a sua política de concessões pactuadas, nem a CGTP está a conseguir aumentar a mobilização dos trabalhadores; ao nível micro, a indignação dos trabalhadores não pode traduzir-se em ação coletiva incisiva sem a sua organização efetiva e real nos locais de trabalho.…”

Precariousness and call centre work: Operators’ perceptions in Portugal and Brazil

“…Membership in the traditional structures of worker representation – namely, trade unions – thus merits attention. In Portugal, it is particularly difficult to organize young people and precarious workers, which can be explained by factors related to the deregulation of labour market and to the fact that employment of these groups is predominantly in low union density sectors (Costa, 2015; Estanque et al, 2015). Membership or the mere presence of a trade union in the workplace is understood by managers’ as a threat to the functioning of the company (Louçã, 2014: 91).…”