Lisbon, Portugal. A general strike disrupted services across Portugal on Wednesday, halting trains, cancelling hundreds of flights and closing schools, as unions protested against the government’s plans to overhaul the country’s labour code.
The strike also affected hospitals, where most surgeries and appointments were postponed following a nursing walkout.
Widespread service disruptions
State-owned railway CP suspended long-distance and most regional services, while Lisbon’s metro shut down. Portugal’s flag carrier TAP said it would operate just 79 of its usual more than 300 daily flights, and Iberia expected reductions of between 50% and 75%.
Schools closed nationwide due to staff shortages, and hospitals postponed most surgeries and appointments.
Union action and political backing
The strike, called by Portugal’s largest umbrella union CGTP, was the second general shutdown in six months and the first since an earlier stoppage in December, which itself was the first since austerity protests in 2013.
Portugal’s minority centre-right government is expected to pass the reform bill with support from the far-right Chega party. The legislation proposes changes to more than 100 articles of the labour code and is aimed at boosting productivity and economic growth after talks with unions collapsed.
Union criticism of the reforms
CGTP head Tiago Oliveira told Reuters the reforms would worsen workers’ conditions by entrenching precarious employment, deregulating working hours, easing dismissals and curbing strike rights and parental protections.
Rodrigo Azevedo, a 30-year-old bank employee, said the package would leave young workers “stuck on precarious contracts for life,” forcing them to work 50 hours a week without extra pay instead of the current standard 40 hours, while making it easier to dismiss them and replace them with cheaper outsourced labour.
“The labor package is a major threat not just to the future of young workers, but to our present,” he said.
Proposed labour code changes
The reform envisions making just-cause dismissals easier, allowing companies to deny workers reinstatement in cases of unlawful dismissal provided they pay compensation, and lifting existing limits on outsourcing.