In a note sent to Lusa News Agency, the BE said that currently law “trivializes the use of tens of thousands of seasonal agricultural workers in conditions of the most absolute precariousness” that, in some cases, even fit “the concept of slave labour adopted by the UN and the Organization International Labour Office”.

BE proposes to the Assembly of the Republic to recommend the Government to develop “a national plan for professional training in the agricultural sector”, which is “implemented and monitored by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action”, which contemplates “good agricultural practices” and promotes “mitigation and adaptation to climate change”.

Among the measures listed, BE wants the beneficiaries of support to guarantee their labour needs through employment contracts, without resorting to subcontracting, within the scope of their applications, professional training plans that fit at the national level in order to meet the legal requirement for the practice of 35 hours of professional training per year. In conjunction with the Working Conditions Authority, which raises awareness of the “need to regularize the workers’ contractual situation”.