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The Committee notes the Government’s report.

Validity of collective agreements once their time limit has expired. The Committee had taken note of the comments of the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP) objecting to section 557 of the Labour Code with respect to the expiry of collective agreements. The CGTP objects that according to this section, once an agreement expires it is automatically renewed, if it has not been terminated, for a period of time equal to that initially stipulated or to that laid down by the Code, namely one year. At the expiry of that period, the agreement remains in force from the beginning of conciliation or mediation until the conclusion of the procedures in progress, up to a maximum of six months. If there has been recourse to arbitration during this six-month period, the agreement remains in force until the entry into force of the arbitration award. Once this date has been passed, the agreement is no longer valid. The CGTP claimed that this provision was contrary to the obligation of the State prescribed by the Convention to promote collective bargaining, since it necessarily causes collective agreements to expire without ensuring at the same time that new agreements enter into force. It claimed that, if an agreement expired, trade unions would be obliged to negotiate “from square one” which would favour the party who blocked the negotiation.

The Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government according to which section 557 has been amended by Act No. 9/2000 which provides that if the time period has been exhausted and no decision has been taken regarding the imposition of compulsory arbitration, the collective agreement expires and the effects defined by agreement of the parties, or, in the absence of such an agreement, the effects produced by the agreement itself with regard to individual labour contracts, remain in place until the entry into force of another collective labour agreement or arbitral ruling with regard to remuneration of workers; worker category and its respective definition; duration of the working time. According to this section, beyond the effects referred to in the previous paragraphs, the worker shall benefit from any rights and guarantees resulting from the application of the present Code. The Committee takes note of this information.