The Intersindical: from its roots to the All Union Congress

The Oral History Archive of the Archive and Documentation Centre of the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers – Intersindical Nacional (CGTP-IN), stemmed from the broader ambition of "preserving, organising and improving the documental archives" of our institution.

The project aims at contributing to the history of CGTP-IN, which means contributing to the history of Portugal in the 20th century. Understanding and analysing the revolutionary period that put an end to the dictatorship, requires an assessment of the action of the masses that were at the root of the political, social and economic change that took place in Portugal.

The passing away of some of the most relevant trade unionists demands the urgent collection of testimonies about a crucial period of the Portuguese history, of trade union action and of workers' organisation, so that, on the one hand, we may fill some of the gaps detected in CGTP-IN's historic archive and in the other national archives and, on the other, the creation of an oral archive that may be an important source of information and memory for workers in general, office bearers, union staff and public at large. This information collection methodology will allow, more than any other, for the scrutiny and preservation of the (individual) memories which, being undocumented, as a result of strong political instability in that political context, will contribute to the understanding of the trade union movement's memory.

In a first phase, by interviewing 30 CGTP-IN trade union leaders, we attempted to understand the movement's organisation and history during the 70's and the importance of workers' action in the overthrow of the dictatorship and the consolidation of democracy. The purpose of this work, as a first effort in a country like Portugal, in which the exercise of oral history is not abundant, is to pave the way and the perspective for a better knowledge of the organisation's history, from its roots to the All Union Congress (23 to 30 January 1977).

The capacities of this programme are not fully used in this first phase; instead the idea is to favour new incursions into the roots of the trade union movement, thus making available a history of lived facts and of our collective memory.

As a final note, but not less important, we would like to thank all those who gave us their testimony and thus contributed to the creation of CGTP-IN's Oral History Archive. Each interview, the additional notes and the editing work were carried out by the Head Researcher and the final document was checked, edited and approved by each person interviewed. This archive is under permanent updating.

Team of experts

Head Researcher: Sílvia Correia
Collaboration: Manuel Carvalho da Silva
Interviews and Editing: Sílvia Correia
Transcription: Sofia Mendonça
Recording and audiovisual editing: Mário Rui de Melo (Formiga Amarela – Oficina de Textos e Ideias, Lda.)
Proof-Reader: Filipe Caldeira
Beginning of Project: October 2010

Interviews