CGTP Sets Second General Strike for 2 June Against the Pacote Laboral — Tiago Oliveira to Unveil the Date at Saldanha's May Day Rally

The Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses-Intersindical Nacional has lined up a second general strike for Tuesday, 2 June 2026, against the Government's Trabalho XXI labour package. The CGTP National Council met on Tuesday 28 April and decided, in the words of secretary-general Tiago Oliveira, to advance “com todas as formas de luta, incluindo a greve geral.” The date is expected to be unveiled publicly during Friday's 1 May Workers' Day commemorations at Saldanha in Lisbon, where the CGTP traditionally addresses the country's union movement.

It will be the second general strike in six months. The first — on 11 December 2025 — was the first joint CGTP-UGT general strike in 12 years, and the country has been waiting since 23 April to see whether the larger UGT confederation would join a second round. So far, it has not.

The dispute, in plain language

The package the unions are protesting — presented by Government on 24 July 2025 — rewrites more than 100 articles of the Portuguese Código do Trabalho. CGTP and UGT focus on a near-identical short list:

• Banco de horas individual. Employers can negotiate an “hours bank” directly with each worker, bypassing collective bargaining; unused hours generate no premium pay; there is no carve-out for parents of dependants.
• Outsourcing after collective dismissal. The 6-month ban on rehiring through outsourcing in the company's core activity, after a redundancy round, is to be relaxed.
• Despedimentos. The dismissal procedure becomes faster and unlawfully dismissed workers may not be reintegrated.
• Período experimental, contratos a termo, jornada contínua, renúncia de créditos laborais — all loosened.
• Direito à greve. New rules unions characterise as restricting strike action.

The Government's framing is mirror-image: more flexibility, faster reallocation of labour, fewer disincentives to hire. Six points of disagreement remain on the table, by the executive's own count.

What Tiago Oliveira has actually said

Speaking after the National Council, Oliveira repeated the line that has structured the CGTP's approach since the autumn: “Não excluímos nenhuma forma de luta. Todas elas estão em cima da mesa, incluindo novamente a greve geral.” A week earlier in Público he had been blunter: “Consoante a dimensão do ataque, maior será a dimensão da resposta.”

The CGTP's reading of the December strike is that “foram os trabalhadores que derrotaram este pacote laboral” — a claim the Government rejects, but which has informed the confederation's decision to keep escalating. Strike notices have already been filed for comércio e serviços, hotelaria e restauração, administração pública, ensino, têxteis e metalurgia, and construção ahead of the general strike date.

Where UGT stands

The União Geral de Trabalhadores' national secretariat unanimously rejected the latest version of the package on 23 April, but secretary-general Mário Mourão has said UGT is “totalmente disponível para continuar a negociar” and is not, today, planning a new general strike of its own. Earlier in the spring UGT had hinted at two strike days; for now there is one, and it is CGTP's. The Minister for Labour has called the Concertação Social back to the table for 7 May — five days after the May Day rally.

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro told reporters this week that UGT “tem todas as condições para subscrever um acordo”. The Confederação Empresarial de Portugal (CIP) is keeping its head down: it estimated December's strike at roughly 3% adhesion in the private sector, against the unions' joint claim of more than 3 million workers participating across the country.

Why a second strike, and why now

The arithmetic of the December strike is contested but the politics are not. CGTP framed the outcome as a successful pressure campaign that forced the Government back to the drawing board. The Government framed the same day, in the words of the Ministro da Presidência, as “inexpressiva” and adjusted nothing material in response. With UGT now stepping back from joint action, CGTP is moving alone — calculating that a single-confederation strike before the parliamentary vote will keep the labour-reform debate from being parked through the summer.

The pacote laboral is one of the central pieces of legislation the Montenegro government is trying to push through in 2026, alongside the PTRR recovery roadmap, the Tribunal de Contas reform, and the ITV vehicle-inspection overhaul. The 2 June date sits roughly four weeks before the parliamentary summer recess.

What this means for expats

• Travel disruption. The 2 June strike will affect Lisbon Metro, Carris, CP intercity and suburban trains, and Lisbon airport ground handling. If you are flying TAP, Ryanair or easyJet that day, expect delays and rebook earlier or later if you can. Sectoral strikes ahead of the 2 June date will likely follow the same blueprint — check CP and Metro Lisboa the day before.
• Hospital and clinic capacity. Public-sector health staff are on the strike notice list. Non-urgent SNS appointments may be rescheduled; urgent care continues under serviços mínimos. If you have a non-emergency consulta marked for 2 June, expect a phone call.
• Schools and creches. Public school staff are also covered. Parents on the AIMA / autorização de residência track who rely on confirmed school enrolment for visa renewals should keep an eye on serviços mínimos notices in the days leading up to 2 June.
• If you employ staff in Portugal. Whether the package passes in its current form changes how you can structure outsourcing after a collective dismissal, run an individual hours bank, or write a probation period into a new contract. The 7 May Concertação Social meeting is the next official negotiation point; the parliamentary version may diverge from what the executive originally tabled.
• Freelancers on recibos verdes. The pacote laboral does not directly change the recibo-verde regime, but the rules around presunção de laboralidade (when a freelancer is, by law, deemed an employee) sit alongside it and will be touched in the next round. If you invoice one client almost exclusively, watch for the redrafted version after the parliamentary committee phase.

What to watch next

The May Day rally at Saldanha is at 14:30 on Friday 1 May; that is when the 2 June date is expected to be made official. Concertação Social meets on 7 May. UGT's posture between now and then will determine whether the second general strike is single-confederation or, like December's, joint — and whether the Government's six-points-pending arithmetic survives contact with the union side. For now, the calendar to watch is: 1 May rally, 7 May Concertação, sectoral strikes through May, general strike 2 June, parliamentary vote sometime after.