Isabel Camarinha
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7 June 1960
Isabel Camarinha | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Isabel Maria Robert Lopes Perdigão Camarinha 7 June 1960 Moscavide, Loures, Portugal |
| Occupation | Trade unionist |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Organization | Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses (CGTP-IN) |
| Known for | Secretary-general of the CGTP-IN (2020–2024) |
Isabel Maria Robert Lopes Perdigão Camarinha (born 7 June 1960) is a Portuguese trade unionist who served as secretary‑general of the General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses – Intersindical Nacional, CGTP‑IN), the largest trade union confederation in Portugal, from February 2020 to February 2024.[1][2][3]
Camarinha was born in the Lisbon metropolitan area, in the parish of Moscavide, municipality of Loures, on 7 June 1960. She trained in law and became active in the labor movement as a young woman, later joining the staff of the Lisbon commerce, office and services union (later CESP/CGTP‑IN), where she worked as a union official.[4][3]
Trade union career
Camarinha has been a trade union leader since 1991, first in the structures of the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores do Comércio, Escritórios e Serviços de Lisboa, and later in the national leadership of CESP, where she held coordinating responsibilities.[4][3] Within CGTP‑IN she integrated national bodies and represented the confederation in social concertation forums, participating in negotiations on labour legislation, the minimum wage and social protection.[5][6]
In February 2020, at the XIV Congress of CGTP‑IN, she was elected secretary‑general, succeeding Arménio Carlos and becoming the first woman to lead the confederation in its history.[1][7][2] Her mandate was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, during which she coordinated union responses on job protection, income guarantees and workplace health measures, and by a subsequent period of high inflation and cost‑of‑living crisis that prompted extensive strike waves and a National Day of Struggle in June 2023.[5][6][8]