PS and PSD rejected on Wednesday the BE proposal that sought to enshrine in the Constitution the possibility that the law define reference salary ranges and limits on the profits of private companies, “in defense of the general interest.”
In the possible meeting of the constitutional review commission on Wednesday, which lasted about three hours, the deputies addressed various articles, with the PS and PSD -which add up to two thirds necessary to reform the Constitution- showing openness to another proposal of the BE to add in article 90, on the objectives of the economic and social development plans, the promotion of the “guarantee of physical accessibility”.
Regarding the modification of the BE to article 86 on private companies, which opens the possibility that the law defines reference salary ranges and benefit limits, “in defense of the general interest”, Catarina Martins regretted that there are companies in Portugal in which some people have to “work for more than a hundred years to earn the same as the CEO”, arguing that “there is no reason for a human being, in what he is capable of doing with his intelligence and his workforce , be it 200 times more than the other in the same company, or 70 times more”.
For the PS, deputy Isabel Moreira said that she was in full agreement on the “gross unfairness” of the examples of wage inequality, but considered that incorporating into the Organic Law the possibility of defining reference salary ranges and earnings limits would limit what a Constitution should be. In the opinion of the socialists, the constitutional text should allow for “type ‘A’ or ‘B’ governance”, with the State having various forms of power to correct this inequality.
Márcia Passos, from the PSD, described the proposal as “unjustified interference” in the private sphere of companies, defending that workers must have a “development plan” with compensation based on merit and added that, for the social democrats, ” companies making a profit is not a crime.”
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Pedro Pinto, from Chega, also spoke “determinedly against” the bloc’s proposal, arguing that the objective of the companies is to profit, but Duarte Alves, from the PCP, refuted that the BE text did not intend to prohibit profits, stressing that it would be necessary “reasons of general interest in certain circumstances” for a possible limitation.
Inês Sousa Real, from PAN, defended that salary disparities in some companies should be resolved in ordinary law and in terms of profits, she regretted that BE’s proposal did not expressly refer to “extraordinary or speculative gains”.
For Livre, Rui Tavares warned about the imbalance of capitalism “in aspects that are detrimental to capitalism itself”, showing himself in favor of change.
In response, Catarina Martins argued that all parties, with the exception of IL, presented proposals to limit profit margins in the face of food speculation and also cited the BES group as an example, stating that “sometimes profits are obtained from ways in which the Portuguese pay, who have not seen a penny of the benefits”.
“Aren’t there reasons of general interest to limit profits? Just out of hypocrisy, everyone has already proposed it, at one time or another, ”she shot.
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Márcia Passos, from the PSD, spoke out against “the signal given by the BE’s proposal”, arguing that the current constitutional text already contemplates the possibility that, “in extreme moments”, there are mechanisms to limit profits or others.
Catarina Martins responded that the proposal does not impose any limitations, it only opens the possibility for this to happen, if necessary.
In article 80, on the fundamental principles of economic organization, the PSD proposed that it be based on the principle of “democratic and environmentally sustainable planning of economic and social development”, a proposal with which the PS agreed.
Article 81 relating to the state’s priority tasks was also discussed, with the Social Democrats proposing various amendments, with the PS saying it is “very comfortable” with the current wording and referring a decision on the matter to the second round of debate. one of the proposals: it is up to the State to promote social justice, as well as “cohesion and equity between generations”.
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At the beginning of the meeting, the Liberal Initiative deputy João Cotrim Figueiredo had to be absent, which caused some confusion in the work as various proposals for Liberal amendments were being debated. The deputies ended up debating the IL’s reform proposals on general principles of economic organization, which ended up being rejected by the majority of the parties.
Source: Observadora
