Teachers and healthcare workers in Portugal are set to resume strikes after the summer break, joining a wave of industrial action that has been ongoing throughout the country. Over the past two years, strikes have swept across multiple industries, including rail workers, teachers, pharmacists, subway workers, tax office workers, and prison guards. The Ministry of Labor reported a significant increase in strike notices in the first half of this year, with a rise of over 92 percent compared to the previous year. Strikes in public administration, particularly in education and healthcare, have surged by a massive 288 percent.
In August, despite being a traditionally low period for strike action due to the summer break, strikes intensified across various sectors. Judiciary civil servants held a one-day strike, demanding the recovery supplement in their salaries and the opening up of promotions and new posts. Doctors in the National Health Service (NHS) staged a two-day walkout in several regions, protesting against hospital conditions, low pay, and an overtime ban. Medical interns also went on strike for the first time in the country, calling for higher pay.
The strike wave expanded to other sectors as well. Workers from the Common Use Service of Hospitals, a private non-profit organization that provides vital services to hospitals, demanded improvements in wages, working conditions, staffing levels, and hazard pay. Workers at Parques de Sintra, which manages historic palaces and parks, went on a four-day stoppage to oppose a new collective agreement that would deregulate working hours. Flight operations officers and aircraft maintenance technicians at SATA Air Açores held a three-day strike over pay and excessive workload.
Airport workers, bus drivers, and employees from the Portuguese electricity company EDP also joined the strikes, highlighting their grievances regarding pay, working conditions, and career advancement. Weather forecasters from the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) demanded a range of improvements, including fair pay for working on public holidays and proper regulations over shift work.
Looking ahead, educators and healthcare workers have announced further strikes. The Union of All Education Professionals (STOP) has planned a week-long strike in September, coinciding with the start of classes in most public schools. This action follows over a year of protests by teachers against low salaries imposed by the Socialist Party government. Additionally, the National Federation of Doctors (FNAM) has called for a national strike in November, demanding higher wages. Other unions, including the Independent Union of Doctors (SIM), are continuing to organize regional strikes.
The growing number of strikes in Portugal reflects the determination of workers to combat attacks on their wages, jobs, and workplace rights. However, the trade unions’ response to the strikes has been questionable. Instead of effectively representing the workers’ interests, the unions have been accused of acting as labor police, suppressing struggles to facilitate austerity measures and maintain the status quo. They often try to shut down strikes quickly, offering minor concessions that do not address the underlying issues. To overcome these limitations, workers may need to establish rank-and-file committees led by themselves, enabling cross-industry collaboration and coordinated actions to challenge the pro-austerity government and the unions.
In addition to the ongoing strikes, workers at NOBRE Alimentos, Portugal’s largest processed meat company, are preparing for their fifth strike of the year to demand wage increases. Autoworkers at the Volkswagen plant in Palmela are also expressing growing anger as the plant announced a nine-week production halt due to a lack of parts from Slovenia following devastating floods in the country. The plants’ decision has led to the potential layoffs of thousands of workers and pay cuts for those remaining.
The strikes in Portugal represent a significant challenge for the ruling class and have the potential to unite and intersect with the broader European upsurge of the working class. Nevertheless, these struggles highlight the need for workers to take matters into their own hands and establish democratic rank-and-file committees. Through these committees, workers can unite across different industries, coordinate their actions, and mount a powerful counter-offensive against the government, unions, and ongoing attacks on their jobs, wages, and working conditions.
