Forfeiture, arbitration and (un)balance in labor relations
Over the last 20 years, there have been profound changes to some of the legal principles on which collective labor relations were based in Portugal, particularly with the introduction of the regime for the expiry of collective bargaining instruments.
With the possibility of collective bargaining instruments being terminated, the position of the unions has been clearly weakened, to the detriment of the workers they represent: it is one thing to negotiate on the basis of a heritage of rights that would serve as a starting point, but quite another to negotiate from a vacuum.
The possibility of generalizing recourse to the arbitration mechanism, in order to mitigate this lapse and its effects, will tend to restore some balance in relations between the parties - employers and trade unions - eliminating the threat of a near vacuum in the post-caducity period.
Author: Filipe Lamelas
