Lisbon – 12 December 2025 – Portugal experienced its first joint general strike in more than a decade on Thursday as millions of workers walked off the job in protest against Prime Minister Luís Montenegro’s controversial labour reform package. Schools, hospitals, courts, factories, public transport, ports, airports, water and sanitation services, and even fish markets were shut down or ran on skeleton crews from the northern city of Porto to the southern Algarve.
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The 24-hour stoppage was called jointly by the country’s two largest union confederations — the left-leaning CGTP (CGTP-Intersindical Nacional) and the more moderate UGT — in a rare display of unity last seen in June 2013 during the height of the Troika austerity years.
In Lisbon, the metro closed every single station for the entire day, while Portuguese Railways (CP) operated only a handful of minimum-service trains. Hundreds of flights were cancelled at Humberto Delgado Airport, and ferry services across the Tagus River were suspended. Refuse remained uncollected in many cities, and most public hospitals postponed non-urgent surgeries and consultations.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the Avenida da Liberdade in central Lisbon for a massive afternoon rallies outside Parliament, waving red CGTP flags and blue UGT banners side by side. Similar protests took place in Porto, Coimbra, Braga, Faro and dozens of smaller towns.
The central target of the strike is the government’s “Trabalho XXI” labour reform bill, which unions say will make it dramatically easier for companies to fire workers, weaken collective bargaining by prioritising firm-level agreements over sector-wide contracts, extend the use of fixed-term and outsourced jobs, and roll back hard-won rights for working parents and victims of miscarriage.
Speaking to reporters at the Lisbon rally, CGTP Secretary-General Tiago Oliveira declared the day “a historic general strike” and called on every worker to reject what he described as “the most serious attack on labour rights since the 1974 Carnation Revolution.” UGT leader Mário Mourão told national radio that participation could exceed 80 % and warned that a second general strike “is not off the table” if the government refuses to withdraw or substantially amend the package.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, whose centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) holds only a minority government, has defended the reforms as essential to keep Portugal competitive and attract foreign investment. He insists the changes will create better-paid, higher-skilled jobs and accused the unions of “fear-mongering. On Wednesday evening he stated that his administration “will not give up on being reformist and transformative.”
The strike comes at a delicate political moment. Montenegro’s government depends on support or abstention from the far-right Chega party to pass legislation, and several opposition parties have accused him of hiding the depth of the reforms during the March 2025 election campaign. The bill is scheduled for final parliamentary vote early next year and could still face a presidential veto or constitutional challenge.
Thursday’s action revealed deep public unease despite Portugal’s recent economic success. While the country has enjoyed the fastest GDP growth in the eurozone and unemployment below 6 %, many workers say wages remain low, precarious contracts are widespread, and the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite. A pre-strike opinion poll showed 61 % of Portuguese supported the stoppage.
As night fell over Lisbon, union leaders hailed the day as an overwhelming success and a clear warning to the government and employers. Whether Montenegro will soften the labour package in response — or dig in and risk further confrontation — will become clear in the coming weeks.
For now, Portugal has sent an unmistakable message: twelve years after the last joint general strike, workers are once again prepared to bring the country to a standstill to defend the labour rights won after the fall of the dictatorship half a century ago.
