On 8 November 2025, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Lisbon. They marched against hundreds of new proposed labor laws that activists say undermine workers’ rights. The General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP) called for a General Strike demonstration which brought out a colorful crowd. Workers and union leaders packed this morning’s over-subscribed hearing to express deep concerns about how these proposed reforms would impact job security and working conditions.
The new legislation, supposedly, would implement new provisions that the government says would improve flexibility and productivity. According to critics, these changes would gut core worker protections that keep employees safe. Tiago Oliveira, the general secretary of CGTP, decried the reforms as “one of the greatest attacks ever made against workers” in Portugal. His is the organization that best represents the majority of us — public sector workers. To protest against the laws proposed, they have called a general strike on 11 December.
The 31-year-old union member from Hologic, a medical device manufacturer, recently voiced her concerns about the upcoming shift. She described the reforms as “clearly a step backward in working conditions and could lead to a complete lack of job security.” Her feelings reflect a near-universal fear of workers in Portugal. Last year more than half of them made less than 1,000 euros (£879) monthly, though the national minimum wage stands at only 870 euros (£764).
The opposition to the proposed labour laws is not just coming from union leaders. Madalena Pena, a 34-year-old archive technician, criticized the government’s approach, suggesting it was executed “in an unfair, subtle, and cunning way, without having said anything before the election” in May. This sense of incomprehension strikes a chord with the millions of protesters caught off guard by the government’s quick and ruthless attempt to implement such deep reforms.
Today, Portugal is still one of the poorest countries in Western Europe. The proposed regulatory reshuffle of the agency has sparked tremendous outrage among its roughly 60,000 strong workforce. With the far-right party Chega lending its support to the proposed bill, its approval in parliament seems assured. This sudden development is raising the alarm among worker advocates, to say the least.