The CGTP and UGT have called for a general strike in response to the draft labor law reform proposed by the government. This marks the first time the two major trade unions have joined in a strike since June 2013, when Portugal was under ‘troika’ intervention.
Trains, Carris, and ferries with minimum services, Lisbon Metro excluded
The operation of trains, ferries, and Carris buses in Lisbon will be subject to minimum services during Thursday’s general strike, while the Lisbon Metro will be entirely halted, according to the Economic and Social Council (CES) decisions.
For the railway sector, minimum services are mandated for CP – Comboios de Portugal, and for the infrastructure manager Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP). This includes services necessary to meet the minimum operations decreed for CP, supplemented by Fertagus and Medway services as proposed by the company.
For the Lisbon Metro, the CES Arbitral Tribunal unanimously decided “not to establish minimum services for train circulation,” whereas Carris must provide services on 12 lines, and Transtejo/Soflusa will operate 25% of its routes between 06:00 and 09:30 and from 18:30 to 20:00.
Minimum services for Galp supply at Lisbon Airport
Fiequimetal and the river transport union agreed with ICD and Iberlim on minimum services to ensure supply at the Lisbon, Lajes, and Santa Maria airports, although no agreement was reached for Transtejo Soflusa.
According to the minutes published by the Directorate-General for Employment and Labor Relations (DGERT), ICD and Fiequimetal – Intersindical Federation for Metalworking, Chemical, Electrical, Pharmaceutical, Pulp, Paper, Graphic, Press, Energy, and Mines Industries agreed on Galp’s request to ensure supply at Lisbon Airport, with 13 workers per shift, and at the airports in the Azores on Lajes and Santa Maria islands, with two and four workers, respectively.
The proposal from Fiequimetal, accepted by ICD, assigns two workers per shift for Lisbon Airport, one for Lajes Airport, and another for Santa Maria.
ANA and Sitava agree on minimum services with “strictly necessary means”
ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal and the Civil Aviation and Airport Workers Union (Sitava) agreed to ensure the “strictly necessary means” to meet minimum service requirements during the general strike in port activities.
In a meeting held at the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity, and Social Security, whose minutes were published by DGERT, both parties agreed, at ANA’s request, to defer negotiating concrete means until after all minimum services for the strike are defined.
“ANA emphasized the need to agree on the principle of coordinating various necessary services to perform defined minimum services,” the minutes read. Consequently, ANA requested Sitava to “submit the agreements already reached by this union.”
TAP agrees on minimum services with several unions
TAP has reached agreements with various unions to carry out minimum services for the general strike on December 11, according to documents published by the Directorate-General for Employment and Labor Relations (DGERT).
The agreement includes the Civil Aviation and Airport Workers Union (Sitava), the Aircraft Maintenance Technicians Union (Sitema), the Metalworking and Allied Industries Union (SIMA), and the National Union of Civil Aviation Flight Personnel (SNPVAC).
The airline will operate three round-trip flights to the Azores and two to Madeira, as well as one round-trip flight to Belgium, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, France, Cape Verde, and Guinea-Bissau.
Additionally, there will be three round-trip flights to Brazil and two to the USA.
Azores Airlines and SATA Air Açores with minimum services
Minimum services have been decreed for both Azores Airlines and SATA Air Açores, with the option for passengers to change reservations for flights included in these minimum services.
Azores Airlines is scheduling nine flights under minimum services, covering Ponta Delgada, Porto and Lisbon, Funchal, and Terceira. Inter-island connections that include Ponta Delgada, Flores, Terceira, and São Jorge are also ensured.
The handling company SPdH will support the flights covered by TAP and SATA’s minimum services, plus one round-trip flight to Germany operated by Lufthansa. It will also support return flights to base that left before the strike began.
Emergency, palliative, and dressing services in minimum health services
Minimum health services for the general strike will include emergency situations, chemotherapy, palliative care, and dressings, according to the CES Arbitral Tribunal’s decision.
Services that must be maintained on the strike day include “emergency cases, along with any situations that, if left unattended, may result in irreparable or irreversible harm, medically substantiated.”
Operating theaters in emergency services, permanently operating hospital wards, and home hospitalizations, as well as palliative care, intensive care, dialysis, and oncology treatments based on priority, are covered by minimum services.
Procedures for voluntary pregnancy termination necessary to meet legal deadlines, organ collection and transplants, and medically assisted reproduction processes—if omission thereof affects the process—are also covered.
Treatment for chronic patients with biological products and drug administration to chronic patients and/or those in outpatient regimens are part of the minimum services.
The continuation of treatments such as chemotherapy programs, radiotherapy, or nuclear medicine, and complementary services indispensable to their realization, are included. Daily prescription treatments in outpatient settings (such as dressings) and complex wound treatments, along with breastfeeding services, are similarly classified under minimum services.
Minimum services defined at INEM
INEM announced the establishment of minimum services for the general strike and expressed confidence that pre-hospital emergency technicians will ensure no emergencies remain unattended.
“Minimum services are defined, and the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) is notifying assigned workers to fulfill these services to guarantee that emergency medical responses remain available to all citizens,” INEM informed Lusa Agency.
REN agrees with unions on weekend-equivalent minimum services
The REN Group has agreed with several unions to ensure minimum services during the general strike that match activity levels typically seen on weekends or public holidays, according to a DGERT document.
The agreement on defining minimum services was announced by DGERT following a meeting between representatives from the REN Group, the National Industry and Energy Union (Sindel), the Service Sector Workers Union (Sitese), and Fiequimetal.
According to the meeting’s records, the unions accepted REN’s proposal to implement minimum services during the general strike that are “necessary and sufficient to ensure activity as it is performed on weekends or holidays.”
Minimum services in Metro Mondego ensure operation continuation
Minimum services decreed for the general strike at Metro Mondego will maintain the complete preliminary operation of the ‘metrobus’ in Coimbra, while reducing alternative services to the Lousã branch.
The agreement specifies that the complete preliminary operation of the ‘metrobus’ (dedicated lane articulated bus) will be maintained (operating from 07:30 to 20:00, with a ten-minute frequency) while suspending six buses that provide alternative services to the Lousã branch (connecting this municipality to Coimbra).
