Particle.news
Download on the App Store
5 ARTICLES
·
18h ago

Portugal’s Unions Stage Nationwide Strike, Disrupting Travel and Public Services

The walkout challenges a government plan to loosen employment protections.

A woman walks through a nearly deserted hall of the Lisbon airport at the start of a general strike to protest against a new labour package announced by the centre-right government, in Lisbon, early Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
Trucks sit idle at a garbage processing center in Lisbon at the start of a general strike on Wednesday night, Dec. 10, 2025, held to protest a new labor package announced by Portugal's center-right government. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
A screen shows departing flights, many cancelled, at Lisbon Airport, at the start of a general strike to protest against a new labour package announced by the centre-right government, in Lisbon, early Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
Striking workers block the entrance to warehouses of the Portuguese postal services company stopping trucks leaving, at the start of a general strike to protest against a new labour package announced by the centre-right government, in Lisbon, Wednesday night, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Overview

  • Lisbon Metro halted services from late Wednesday until early Friday, with national rail and Porto’s light rail warning of reduced operations and airlines bracing for disruptions.
  • The action is led by the General Workers’ Union and the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers, which together represent close to a million workers in their first joint strike since 2013.
  • Union leaders oppose proposed employment-law changes that would ease dismissals, expand no-strike sectors and cap breastfeeding breaks at two years.
  • The government defends the package as necessary to improve flexibility and growth, and Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has called the strike “senseless.”
  • Portugal’s backdrop includes average monthly pay near €1,600, a minimum wage of €870, inflation just over 2%, unemployment under 6% and European Commission growth projections around 2%.