Portugal braces for general strike as CGTP mobilises against labour reform, PM predicts low turnout

Strike begins at midnight

A nationwide general strike will begin at 00:00 on Wednesday, 3 June 2026, after the CGTP-IN union confederation filed a strike notice against the government's proposed changes to labour legislation. The 24-hour walkout follows the breakdown of negotiations between the unions and the PSD/CDS-PP government. The Lisbon Metro has already suspended operations at 23:00 on Tuesday evening, with service not expected to resume until 06:30 on Thursday. The Economic and Social Council (CES) confirmed that no minimum service levels were set for train circulation.

We expect strong participation in the strike.

Transport and public services targeted

Strike notices cover workers at the Lisbon Metro, Carris, Carristur, Transtejo/Soflusa, Fertagus, Metro Mondego, Metro do Porto, STCP, and CP – Comboios de Portugal, among others. The Fectrans union federation has stated that all urban passenger transport companies are mobilised against the labour package. Beyond transport, hospitals, schools, and airports are expected to face severe disruptions. The TSF radio station warned that its broadcast and website may experience constraints due to the strike.

Government and union positions collide

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, speaking on Tuesday evening at a conference marking the 138th anniversary of Jornal de Notícias in Porto, said he believes the 'overwhelming majority of Portuguese who work' will show up on Wednesday. He acknowledged he has 'no idea' what the turnout will be but stressed the need to balance the right to strike with the right to work. Montenegro described the roughly 20 protesters who greeted him at the event as 'always the same people, die-hard CGTP militants.'

What I hope is that they let the Portuguese work. Let those who want to exercise the right to strike do so, but also let those who do not want to exercise that right, who want to work, go to school, go to medical appointments, carry out their daily tasks.

Communist Party leader rallies strikers

Paulo Raimundo, secretary-general of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), joined a picket line of Lisbon Metro workers on Tuesday night near Parque station. He framed the strike as a direct response to what he called a government 'declaration of war on workers' and said the administration had chosen to 'put its foot on the neck of those who work.'

Here is a great general strike to give a resounding 'no' to this labour package. This does not serve the workers, it does not serve the lives of each person, it does not serve those who make the country run, and it does not serve the country.

A fractured union front

This general strike proceeds without the participation of the UGT, the country's second-largest union confederation. In December 2025, the CGTP and UGT jointly called a general strike against the initial draft of the labour reform — the first time the two confederations had united for a walkout since June 2013, when Portugal was under the troika bailout programme. The current government's bill includes 'more than 50 changes' to the original draft, 12 of which came from the UGT, according to Labour Minister Rosário Palma Ramalho. The UGT's absence this time breaks the united front that had formed against the labour law revision.

What the reform contains

The government's labour legislation revision, referred to in some reports as 'Trabalho XXI,' was presented after negotiations in the Social Concertation forum ended without agreement. The bill proposes more than 50 amendments to the initial draft. The CGTP secretary-general, speaking through RTP, said this is the moment to defeat the labour package and expressed confidence that Wednesday's protest will demonstrate widespread discontent with the changes the government wants to introduce.