Dozens of flights and trains have been cancelled, schools closed, and hospital operations postponed in cities across Portugal, as the two main union federations stage a general strike over unprecedented labour reforms.

Public transport was down to a minimum service in many areas, and unions stated that refuse collections were at a standstill as the strike took hold on Thursday.

The last time the CGTP and the generally less militant UGT joined forces was during the eurozone debt crisis in 2013, when a 'troika' of international institutions demanded cuts in salaries and pensions as part of Portugal's bailout.

Twelve years later, Portugal's economy has become the fastest growing in the eurozone in recent months, but Prime Minister Luís Montenegro argues that it is still necessary to tackle 'rigidities' in the labour market 'so companies can be more profitable and workers have better salaries' as a result.

I will not give up on having a country with the ambition to be at the forefront, to be at the vanguard of Europe, he said on the eve of the strike.

However, Montenegro appears to have been taken aback by the strength of feeling against his minority right-of-centre government's plans: one of his Social Democrat MPs, who is on the UGT executive, even voted for a strike.

The prime minister made minor adjustments to some proposals after calling the federation in for discussions late last month, but it was clear that it was not enough.

Among the most controversial of the more than 100 proposals are:

  • letting employers roll over temporary contracts for years on end
  • lifting a ban on sacking workers then immediately rehiring them indirectly via outsourcing
  • removing a requirement to reinstate employees who were unfairly dismissed.

Younger Portuguese workers are likely to be most affected by the changes, and public opinion is mixed. Diogo Brito, an air steward, supports the right to strike but backs the reforms, saying, 'It has to be done. We have to catch up with richer countries.' Conversely, self-employed photographer Eduardo Ferreira expresses concern about job security and appreciates the union's unity at this critical time: 'Things have been tough ever since the troika, and workers haven't reacted until now.'

The CGTP has condemned the package as 'an assault on the rights of all workers, particularly women and young people,' while the UGT characterizes it as reflecting a 'clear bias in favour of employers' amid economic growth.

Montenegro's coalition government is striving for support from the small free-market Liberal Initiative (IL) and the hard-right Chega party, with the latter expressing reservations about certain aspects of the proposed measures.

At Portugal's largest factory, VW-owned Autoeuropa, nearly 1,000 employees voted unanimously last week to support the strike, highlighting the wide-reaching discontent. UGT secretary-general Mário Mourão claimed, 'I believe there is no worker in this country unaffected by the negative measures in this reform. It must be responded to appropriately.'