"Everyone needs a collective work agreement, [...] those who don't have a collective work agreement are facing huge problems and that's where poverty comes from. We are one of the poorest regions in Portugal also because we don't solve most of these problems", said the Madeiran leader of the MPT, Valter Rodrigues, after a campaign action at the Madeira Employment Institute, in Funchal.

Speaking to the Lusa agency, the head of the list for Sunday's legislative elections presented as an example a hotel maid, with "a hard job", in which "she has to lift mattresses, clothes and all that every day", and defended that "she should have a specialised work contract, in this case a collective work contract".

Thinking about the value of pensions, Valter Rodrigues stressed that overtime is not counted for this purpose, because what counts is the base salary, and defended the need for better salaries.

"We cannot have a work contract that includes hours and is a contract, for example, of 850 euros, which is the minimum wage, because what counts is the base salary for the pension and we have to have higher salaries because when people retire it is not the hours that will count, but the gross [value] in the contract", he explained.

In this regard, the leader of the MPT in Madeira said he wanted to talk to workers' unions, considering that "they are not taking action" to ensure better wages.

"We have to sit down with these unions and tell them that they have to start fighting and the problem is that they are not fighting", he said, pointing to the hotel unions as an example.

According to the candidate, there has been a lack of proactivity on the part of those who represent the workers and there is a need for "new leadership or a new union".

Valter Rodrigues also warned that workers are increasingly "poorer and cannot lift their heads" and assumed the MPT's commitment to "give these people the strength" to also talk to the unions.

On this 10th day of campaigning for Sunday's regional elections, the head of the MPT list reiterated that his candidacy is having "a very good reception" from the Madeirans in general, highlighting the businesspeople because the party knows the reality they face, namely that "they are paying a lot of taxes".

"We will be an added value in the Madeira Regional Assembly to be able to solve most of the problems we have in the region, which have to be solved. We cannot close our eyes and forget these people, because these people have families", said Valter Rodrigues.

The Madeira legislative elections will take place on Sunday, with 14 candidacies competing for the 47 seats in the regional parliament, in a single electoral constituency: ADN, BE, PS, Livre, IL, RIR, CDU (PCP/PEV), Chega, CDS-PP, MPT, PSD, PAN, PTP and JPP.

The early elections take place eight months after the most recent regional legislative elections, after the President of the Republic dissolved the Madeiran parliament, following the political crisis triggered in January, when the leader of the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP), Miguel Albuquerque, was charged in a process in which suspicions of corruption are being investigated.

In September 2023, the PSD/CDS coalition won without an absolute majority and elected 23 deputies. The PS won 11, the JPP five, Chega four, while the CDU, the IL, the PAN (which signed an agreement for parliamentary incidence with the social democrats) and the BE obtained one mandate each.

Also Read: Elections/Madeira. MPT criticises "deputies who sell themselves for peanuts" (Portuguese version)