Portugal - National strike - December 31, 2025

Train services ground to a halt on 11 December, hundreds of flights were cancelled, and schools closed as the largest unions CGTP and UGT launched a first general strike since June 2013 and thousands of workers marched in protest against proposed labour reforms. The labour reforms envision easing just-cause dismissals in small- and medium-sized businesses and lifting limits on outsourcing. Other contentious measures include capping flexible work rights for breastfeeding mothers at two years. The Government says the proposed changes aim to boost productivity and spur economic growth. But unions accuse it of tilting power toward employers at the expense of workers’ rights, despite a strong economy and low unemployment.

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For more information, please contact Paul de Beer or Oana Ciuca, De Burcht (Scientific Bureau for the Dutch Trade Union Movement) p.t.debeer@uva.nl or the Head of communications at the ETUI, Mehmet Koksal mkoksal@etui.org. For previous full issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit https://www.etui.org/Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter or consult the archive with all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org.