Called jointly by the communist-leaning CGTP and the socialist-leaning UGT — a rare show of unity between the rival union blocs — the 24-hour stoppage is the most significant labor action since June 2013, when the country was still under the harsh austerity regime imposed by the EU-IMF-ECB troika. From the northern city of Porto to the southern Algarve, hospitals operated on emergency footing only, schools and universities closed, rubbish piled up on streets, factories fell silent, and public transport networks collapsed.
Lisbon’s metro shut down completely, trains ran skeleton services required by law, and hundreds of flights were cancelled at the country’s main airports. TAP Air Portugal alone scrapped more than 220 flights, while ground-handling staff, cabin crew, and air-traffic controllers joined the walkout. Ports, water-treatment plants, fish markets, and even agricultural cooperatives reported near-total adherence.
At the heart of the protest is the government’s “Trabalho XXI” (Work XXI) bill, a package of over 100 amendments to the Labor Code that unions describe as the most regressive attack on workers’ rights since the 1974 Carnation Revolution. Among the most contested measures:
Easier dismissal procedures, especially for small and medium-sized companies, with reduced compensation for unfair dismissal
Expanded use of “time banks” that allow employers to impose overtime without immediate pay
Restrictions on collective bargaining agreements
Cuts to family-related protections, including shorter bereavement leave for miscarriages and limits on flexible hours for mothers of children under two
Union leaders framed the strike not merely as a defense of existing rights but as a demand for dignity in a country where the national minimum wage remains €870 a month — well below the European average — and where many workers still struggle with precarious contracts and stagnant real wages despite years of strong economic growth.
CGTP secretary-general Tiago Oliveira told reporters in Lisbon that the action was “a clear rejection of a labor package that makes layoffs cheaper, weakens collective bargaining, and turns decent jobs into precarious ones.” He predicted participation would exceed three million workers and warned that further mobilization, including a second general strike, is already under consideration if the government refuses to withdraw the bill.
UGT leader Mário Mourão was equally forceful, estimating turnout at over 80% and declaring that “workers have exhausted all avenues of dialogue.” Speaking after a last-minute meeting with Montenegro yielded only minor concessions, Mourão said the government had “chosen confrontation over consensus.”
The Democratic Alliance minority government, in power since snap elections earlier this year, insists the reforms are essential to modernize an overly rigid labor market, attract investment, and boost productivity. Prime Minister Montenegro repeated on Wednesday that the changes “will create conditions for better salaries and more jobs,” while Cabinet ministers downplayed the strike’s impact, calling it largely confined to the public sector and claiming the “overwhelming majority” of the economy continued to function normally.
Yet images of deserted train stations, closed hospital wards, and massive rallies in Lisbon and Porto told a different story. Tens of thousands gathered outside the Assembly of the Republic under banners reading “Hands Off Our Rights” and “No to Precarious Work,” while opposition parties from the Socialist Party to the Left Bloc accused Montenegro of betraying campaign promises by relying on far-right Chega votes to push the legislation through parliament next month.
The strike comes at a politically delicate moment. With presidential elections scheduled for January 2026 and Montenegro’s coalition holding only a fragile minority in parliament, the labor showdown has become a defining test of his nine-month-old administration. Public opinion polls in recent days showed clear majority support for the unions’ demands, with many citizens expressing alarm that reforms once associated with the austerity era are being revived during a period of relative prosperity.
As night fell across a strangely quiet Lisbon, union leaders declared the day an unqualified success. Whether the government will now reopen meaningful negotiations — or double down and force the bill through with Chega’s support — will determine if Portugal is heading toward a winter of renewed social confrontation or a last-minute compromise that preserves the post-1974 social contract.
For now, one message rang out loud and clear from picket lines and empty streets alike: after fifty years of democracy, Portuguese workers are prepared to fight to protect the rights won when the dictatorship fell.
