I would like to begin by greeting you for this initiative to debate, in the context of the Centenary of our Party, the everyday struggles. A special greeting both to those who took a little time from their studies in this final stage of the school year, and for many in the crucial stage of university access, or to those who, at the end of a long day’s work, are here with us to debate the problems, interests and aspirations of the youth.

I would like to welcome and thank you for your participation in this meeting with new members of the Portuguese Communist Party. Your choice to join the Portuguese Communist Party marks the difference and the necessary path at the beginning of the third decade of the 21st. century. Joining the PCP is an essential choice for all those affected by politics at the service of big capital and want to fight consequently for a fairer society and world.

A day that began at the gates of hundreds of companies, in contact with thousands of workers and that ended in Parliament. Precariousness, low wages, deregulation of working hours, blackmail by employers, in a word: the exploitation of workers in Portugal was echoed in the Assembly of the Republic by the voice of communist MPs. The denunciation was coupled by the concrete proposal for the resumption and achievement of rights (of decent wages, decent hours, fight against precariousness and "low-cost" dismissals) but also by a direct call to continue on the streets, for struggle, company by company, sector by sector, right by right, working time by working time: "let no one disarm in the battle for the right to work with rights".

What a beautiful congress that the Portuguese Communist Youth held in these two days! A rich debate and knowledge of reality! Connection to the concerns, interests and aspirations of the Youth! A live debate, driven by the interest to look further, to seek the right solutions to the problems and the ways to get there!