Overview
- The 24-hour action called by CGTP and UGT pushed rail, metro and buses to minimum service, with most long-distance trains canceled and Lisbon’s metro closed from late Wednesday until early Friday.
- TAP Air Portugal operated 63 of 283 scheduled flights as pilots, cabin crew and baggage handlers joined the walkout, and other carriers reduced or canceled routes.
- Hospitals and schools scaled back operations, canceling many non-urgent appointments and classes while guaranteeing emergency care and critical treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
- Union officials reported very high participation, with CGTP claiming more than three million people mobilized, and organizers held marches in Lisbon and other cities.
- Prime Minister Luís Montenegro defended the ‘Trabalho XXI’ package as necessary for flexibility and growth and dismissed the strike as political or “nonsense.”