The head of trade union confederation UGT has reaffirmed that he was “encouraged” by the rival and larger CGTP to sign an agreement for sweeping changes of Portuguese labour laws with the government and employers last week.

UGT Secretary-General João Proença repeated the claim Sunday in a broadcast interview, saying the “incentives” to sign had come from “leaders of the CGTP majority” linked to the Communist Party.

The CGTP, which walked out of the tripartite negotiations, had angrily denied Proença’s claim earlier.

It said it would file a “criminal suit” for slander against the smaller labour organisation, which is linked to the opposition Socialist Party and the centre-right Social Democrats of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho.

The three-way agreement inked last week opened the way for broad changes in labour laws, including the easing of lay-off procedures, cuts in unemployment benefits, and the reduction of public holidays and holidays, as called for under Lisbon’s bailout programme with the EU and IMF.

The main concession obtained by the UGT was the government’s dropping of its plan to increase working hours by 30 unpaid minutes per day in the private sector.

Proença also criticised some Socialist leaders, excluding party chief António José Seguro, for having slammed the accord.

He said Seguro and “others” had been “informed closely” of developments during the entire negotiation process, which lasted for months.

Proença challenged Socialist critics to show how the accord differed from austerity bailout demands that were agreed last year by the previous Socialist government that negotiated the international financial rescue programme before losing snap elections last June.