Speech by Paulo Raimundo, Member of the Political Committee and Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PCP, Rally «The Future has a Party. Freedom, Democracy, Socialism»

«The organised force is capable of much, but the organised force of the workers is capable of everything»

«The organised force is capable of much, but the organised force of the workers is capable of everything»

Here we are determined and confident in the project we have and want to build.

A construction that is done every day on the most diverse fronts but which is first and foremost based in companies and workplaces.

With the workers and for the workers, this is our commitment that has lasted for one hundred and one years.

We are well aware of the difficulties because we feel them just like all other workers. We know the problems, not because of what they tell us, but because we are there, we feel them and we face them.

We are aware of the strength and means of our class enemy and we know how far it is willing to go with its economic, social, political and ideological offensive. In the most subtle to the most brazen ways, they attack us because every attack on the Party of the workers is a serious blow to the interests of the workers themselves, just as every theft of the rights of those who work is an attack on their Party.

Capital's prescription is the same as always, dividing workers, pitting them against one another and thus leaving the field open to steal their rights, attack wages, deregulate working hours, generalise precariousness, concentrate in their hands the wealth that is created and only created by the workers.

But the workers know who they always count on and that they have in their Party the one that seeks to unite them around their concrete problems, contribute to their organisation, mobilisation and struggle for the resolution of these same problems.

Here, in our Party, are the greatest fighters for workers' rights, here are the builders of the future, here are the most committed activists in the struggle for peace and against war, because it is peace and not war that is the interest of the workers and people.

“With you every day” is not a slogan on a poster, it is a guide to action for the struggle we fight alongside those who work.

A struggle that mobilizes all workers regardless of their religious belief, ethnicity, skin colour, sexual orientation or nationality. On this side, on our side, belong all those who are the target of theft of rights, all workers, whether Portuguese or immigrants, those who live in the instability of precariousness, all those whose wages do not last for such a long month, all those who are exploited, even those who are not yet aware of it, but who, due to the hardship of life, know that something is not right.

Yes, it is about the struggle against exploitation that we are talking about and, yes, we are fighting an intense class struggle. Those interested in keeping things as they are say that the class struggle is a thing of the past, but it is this so-called theory of the past that continues to explain the reality of the present.

And the reality is that life is getting harder.

We all feel it when we buy food for the house, pay for electricity, water, gas, rent, fuel, medicines and all kinds of expenses.

This is bad, but not for everyone. Behold the profits of Pingo Doce, Sonae, EDP, Galp or the banks, behold the shareholders of the economic groups who, during the epidemic, collected more than seven billion euros in dividends.

We are not talking about a conjunctural situation.

Increase in injustices, inequalities, concentration of wealth are hallmarks of capitalism and of exploitation, it is its tool to achieve its objective. We are facing an authentic liberal pillage that has been going on for a long time and for which there are no limits. A process where only its main targets are in a position to face them.

Every wage increase, every worker with a precarious contract that becomes permanent, every gain in companies and workplaces means an improvement in the living conditions of workers and the raising of their collective conscience, but it is also a setback in exploitation and in the strength of the employers.
We all aspire to a better life, but it is evident that a better life is not possible without the vast majority raising their living conditions. Workers are not numbers, they are people with their lives and there is no future without their valorisation, there is no hope without the dignification of work. Change the grievous and retrograde labour legislation, raise wages, distribute better the wealth created by the workers, and life will be better for the vast majority.

We know that Capital spares no opportunity to increase exploitation. Look at what happened during this period of epidemic and the scandalous use of dismissals, deregulation of working hours, pressure on wages and from this example we can already foresee what is being prepared with the war and the situation of international instability that we are experiencing.

We are the Party of the working class and of all workers, here we are to mobilise and fight for their rightful interests, which are also the aspirations of the anti-monopoly classes and strata. Here there are no subordinations or influences from the interests, ideology and politics of the forces of Capital. Here we say why we are here, truthfully and clearly. That is how it was when we were founded and that is how it will continue to be.

For this fight, everyone is welcome and necessary, industrial, agricultural and construction workers, workers in call centres, couriers, doctors, nurses and professionals from the healthcare and security forces, teachers and educators, cultural workers, scientists, architects, lawyers, cleaning, catering, hospitality, commerce and services workers and many, many others.

And from here we say to you, use your rights, the rights that the Constitution enshrines, unite and fight for an increase in wages, against the precariousness and deregulation of working hours and life, for the repeal of the grievous norms of labour legislation, for your rights , for your desires and aspirations.

Strengthen your organisations, the trade unions, the unitary trade union movement, the great trade union central of Portuguese workers, the CGTP-IN. Strengthen this daily struggle, be key players of the process and builders of history, take the destiny of your lives in your own hands.

The organised force is capable of much, but the organised force of the workers is capable of everything. And in this struggle for your emancipation, you will always count on this Party that has the dimension of the future, the Portuguese Communist Party.

With an unwavering confidence in the masses, the youth and the workers.

Long live Peace!
Long live the JCP!
Long live the Portuguese Communist Party!

  • Assuntos e Sectores Sociais
  • Economia e Aparelho Produtivo
  • Trabalhadores
  • Central