Public Sector Strike Hits 80 Percent as Schools Close and Hospitals Run on Minimum Staff

Portugal's public sector ground to a near-halt on Monday as a 24-hour strike called by the Fesinap union federation drew an estimated 80 percent adhesion across the mainland by 9:45 a.m., according to union leader Mario Rui. Schools, hospitals, and immigration offices bore the brunt of the action, with ripple effects likely to be felt by residents and immigrants well into the week.

The walkout, which began at midnight and runs until 23:59, covers central, regional, and local government — essentially the entire administrative apparatus of the Portuguese state. It is the latest and most disruptive labour action in a string of public sector disputes that have intensified since the start of 2026.

Education and Health Hit Hardest

In education, adhesion climbed to 90 percent nationwide. The majority of public schools closed outright in the morning, and those that did open were expected to shut by the afternoon for lack of staff. For expat families with children in the public school system, the disruption was a sharp reminder of how reliant Portuguese education remains on a workforce that feels undervalued.

In healthcare, participation hovered around 80 percent, affecting hospitals and Local Health Units (ULS) across the country. While minimum services were maintained — a legal requirement for healthcare strikes — non-urgent consultations, elective procedures, and administrative services were widely suspended. The nursing strike just days earlier had already strained the system, and Monday's broader action compounded the pressure.

Immigration Services Disrupted

Fesinap flagged significant impacts at several government agencies beyond the usual suspects, including the Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN), the Directorate-General for Justice Administration, Social Security offices, and critically, AIMA — the Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum. For the tens of thousands of immigrants waiting on permits, renewals, or appointments, the strike added yet another delay to an already overwhelmed system. As we reported over the weekend, AIMA appointments scheduled for Monday were effectively frozen, with no automatic rescheduling guaranteed.

What the Unions Want

The strike's core demands centre on three issues: a thorough overhaul of the SIADAP performance evaluation system, which Fesinap calls "unjust"; the creation of a formal career path for auxiliary educational technicians; and a significant increase in health sector hiring.

The SIADAP system, which governs how civil servants are assessed and promoted, has been a flashpoint for years. It uses quotas to limit top ratings — a mechanism that unions argue penalises dedicated workers and rewards bureaucratic manoeuvring. Fesinap is pushing for the elimination of these quotas, pointing to the Azores as a model where the regional government has already dropped them.

A pluriannual agreement signed in January between the government, rival union federation Fesap, and the STE union includes SIADAP reform among its commitments, with negotiations pencilled in for the second half of this year. But Fesinap, which represents around 9,000 workers, was excluded from those talks — a snub that partly explains Monday's action. The union wants a seat at the table.

A Pattern of Discontent

Monday's strike does not exist in a vacuum. It follows a nurses' strike on 20 March, ongoing prison guard industrial action, and a threatened teachers' strike that could follow in the coming weeks. The government's labour reform agenda has struggled to keep pace with the breadth of public sector discontent, and the sheer variety of unions now taking action suggests that the January agreement has failed to contain the pressure.

For a government that already faces a tense parliamentary landscape and a storm-recovery programme absorbing political bandwidth, the 80 percent adhesion figure is a warning. It shows that the discontent is broad-based, not confined to a single sector or union, and that the current approach to public sector relations is not working.

The government has not yet commented on Monday's adhesion figures. How it responds in the coming days — whether by opening dialogue with Fesinap or dismissing the action as routine — will say a great deal about whether this strike wave has peaked or is just beginning.

Related reading: Eve of Friday's Prosecutor Strike — SMMP Report Pegs the Ministério Público's Staffing Hole at 162 Magistrates and 267 Court Officials

Background: See the STTS national health-sector strike on 4-5 May.

Background: See STTS calls a 24-hour health-sector stoppage for Monday and Tuesday with a 5 May Hospital Santa Maria demonstration.