Culture Workers Are Called Out on Strike on 17 October, and Lisbon's EGEAC Staff Plan a Protest Five Days Later

CENA-STE, the union for performers, audiovisual workers and musicians, has called a 24-hour strike across the culture and entertainment sector on 17 October, so that workers can join the national demonstration the CGTP union confederation has called for that day in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra.

In a separate dispute, staff at EGEAC, Lisbon city council's company for cultural venues and events, will rally outside its headquarters on 22 October and are threatening to strike after months without pay talks.

The 17 October strike

The Sindicato dos Trabalhadores de Espectáculos, do Audiovisual e dos Músicos said its strike notice covers "all workers, regardless of union membership, role or type of contract" in culture and entertainment, for the whole of 17 October. In practice that means performances, rehearsals, technical crews and front-of-house work could be affected that day, though theatres and promoters decide their own programmes and the union has not said which venues it expects to close.

The CGTP demonstration runs under the slogan "More pay, better pensions and public services, against the rising cost of living; defend health and social security". CENA-STE backs the confederation's demands for 2027: a pay rise of at least 15 percent, with a minimum of 150 euros for every worker from January, and a rise in the national minimum wage from 920 to 1,100 euros a month. The union also lists housing costs and the right to cultural creation and enjoyment among its concerns.

The EGEAC dispute

EGEAC runs some of Lisbon's best-known cultural spaces and festivals on behalf of the city council. The Sindicato dos Trabalhadores do Município de Lisboa (STML) said on Wednesday that staff meeting in a plenary had approved a resolution demanding that the company respect the right to negotiate under its company agreement and set a meeting at once.

The union opened negotiations on 14 April and has been waiting since 11 May for a meeting, which it says the board has refused. Workers want an interim pay rise based on the same 15 percent proposal, with a minimum of 150 euros each, answers to the demands they submitted in April, and explanations of "successive changes in the company", including the removal of financial autonomy from the management of many venues, which they say is delaying events.

"The company is going through one of the most difficult moments in its history, and the board is still not answering the problems that affect the daily life of those who work at EGEAC," the resolution says. Workers will send it to the board, the city councillors and the municipal assembly, and say they will decide on further action, including strikes, if there is no reply.

More than 50 EGEAC workers demonstrated outside Lisbon city hall in April. STML's Miguel Mendes said then that the company's last above-inflation pay rise came in 2018, and that since then it has only matched the rises given to the civil service.

What it means for audiences

Anyone with tickets for 17 October should check with the venue or promoter before setting out, since cancellations are usually announced at short notice. The CGTP's minimum wage demand was first set out in September, eighty euros above the level the signed social partners' accord reaches in 2028.