Portugal general strike over labour reform halts trains, cancels hundreds of flights and shuts schools

Transport networks crippled

State-owned railway CP suspended long-distance trains and most regional services, while Lisbon's metro shut entirely. Bus operators in Lisbon and Porto ran only minimal services. At airports in Lisbon, Porto and Faro, flag carrier TAP operated just 79 of its usual 300-plus daily flights. Cabin crew union Snpvac reported more than 340 flight cancellations, and Iberia expected reductions between 50% and 75%. Essential air links to the Madeira and Azores archipelagos were maintained under minimum-service rules.

Schools and hospitals disrupted

Schools closed nationwide due to staff shortages. Hospitals postponed most scheduled surgeries and appointments after nurses joined the walkout. The National Federation of Doctors (FNAM) said operating theatres were shut in the overwhelming majority of hospitals, including São João Hospital in Porto and the IPO oncology centre. FNAM president Joana Bordalo e Sá said the reform would push doctors, nurses and other health workers "to exhaustion," compromising patient safety. The nurses' union reported participation rates above 75%.

What the reform proposes

The minority centre-right government's bill, likely to pass with support from the far-right Chega party, proposes changes to over 100 articles of the labour code. It would make just-cause dismissals easier, allow companies to deny reinstatement to illegally dismissed workers in exchange for compensation, and lift limits on outsourcing. The government says the measures aim to boost productivity and spur growth.

The reform would worsen workers' conditions by entrenching precarious employment, deregulating working hours, easing dismissals and curbing strike rights and parental protections.

Union opposition and worker sentiment

CGTP head Tiago Oliveira said awareness of the package's content was now much higher than during the first strike in December, citing polls showing workers believe the reform will harm them. Rodrigo Azevedo, a 30-year-old bank employee, said young workers would be "stuck on precarious contracts for life," forced to work 50 hours a week without extra pay instead of the current 40, while being more easily dismissed and replaced by cheaper outsourced labour. Filipe Pereira, coordinator of the Porto Union of Unions, said this strike was more widely observed than the December action and that workers were rejecting precariousness, hour banks, outsourcing and the removal of parental and union rights.

The labour package is a major threat not just to the future of young workers, but to our present.

Political and business context

Talks between the government and unions collapsed before the bill was introduced. The moderate UGT confederation, which backed the December strike, did not join Wednesday's action. Some industrial employers argue the current legal framework is outdated. Antonio Ricca, who runs the Effaflu cooling-systems factory in northern Portugal, said rigid labour laws dating from the late 1970s keep wages low. Julio Marto, who runs a pallet factory in central Portugal, shared that view. A protest march through Lisbon was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. local time.

Wednesday's strike is the second general shutdown in six months and only the third since protests against austerity in 2013.