Train services were halted across Portugal on Thursday (11), hundreds of flights were canceled and schools were closed as unions began the first general strike in more than a decade in protest against proposed labor reforms.
The center-right minority government says the proposed changes – which alter more than 100 articles of the labor code – aim to increase productivity and stimulate economic growth. But unions accuse the government of tilting power toward employers at the expense of workers’ rights, despite a strong economy and low unemployment.
The bill, yet to be presented to Parliament, is expected to be approved with the support of the far-right Chega party.
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Some public transport operated due to minimum service requirements imposed by authorities, but Lisbon’s streets were noticeably calmer. Although hospitals remained open, most surgeries and consultations were postponed due to the nursing staff striking.
“We will have a major general strike… Our appeal is for all workers to use this day as a means of rejecting labor reform,” Tiago Oliveira, general secretary of the CGTP trade union, told reporters on one of the pickets.
The airline TAP is expected to operate only around a third of its approximately 260 daily flights to and from Portugal during the one-day strike.
Called by the largest trade unions, CGTP and UGT, this is the first general strike since June 2013, when Portugal was under severe austerity measures imposed by an international bailout that reduced wages and increased taxes.
Labor reforms provide for the relaxation of mass dismissals for just cause in small and medium-sized companies and the end of limits on outsourcing. Other controversial measures include a two-year limit on flexible working rights for breastfeeding mothers.
