Portugal is bracing for a nationwide general strike on December 11, 2025, as tensions mount between the center-right government and the country’s leading labor unions over a sweeping labor reform package. The proposed overhaul, dubbed “Work XXI,” seeks to amend more than 100 articles of the Labor Code, introducing a raft of changes that would touch nearly every corner of working life—from parental leave and flexible working arrangements to the rules governing dismissals and strike actions.
Unions, including the General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers (CGTP) and the General Union of Workers (UGT), have joined forces in their opposition to the government’s plan. Their rare unity underscores the depth of concern among public administration workers and private sector employees alike, many of whom view the reforms as a threat to hard-won labor rights.
“Otherwise, people will take to the streets,” warned the secretary-general of Fesap, a union affiliated with UGT, during talks with government officials on November 13, 2025, according to Portugal Pulse. The government, for its part, insists that it remains open to dialogue. Minister for Cabinet Affairs Antonio Leitao Amaro told reporters, “It is hard to understand why some want to halt the country ... when the government is showing its real, true and concrete openness to dialogue. This is a government of dialogue, it has always been that,” Reuters reported.
At the heart of the dispute is the government’s assertion that the labor code overhaul is necessary to boost business productivity—an area where Portugal has long lagged behind its European neighbors due to structural weaknesses, including lower educational qualifications. The National Productivity Board has repeatedly highlighted these issues, and the government believes that modernizing labor laws is part of the solution.
The “Work XXI” project, first presented on July 24, 2025, is ambitious in scope. It proposes changes to parental leave, breastfeeding leave, gestational mourning leave, flexible work, corporate training, and probation periods. It also aims to expand the list of sectors required to maintain minimum services during strikes, a move that has sparked particular ire among union leaders.
One of the most significant changes involves parental leave. Under the current law, both parents are entitled to 120 or 150 consecutive days of leave following the birth of a child, which they can share. The government’s proposal would allow initial parental leave to extend up to six months (180 days), provided both parents split the additional 60 days equally after the mandatory 120 days. If parents do not opt for this arrangement, leave may still extend to 150 days, with an optional 30-day extension. The daily parental subsidy would also change: while the first 120 days would continue to be paid at 100% of the reference wage, the rate for shared leave would drop from 100% to 90% for 150 days, and up to 100% for the full 180 days if the extra 60 days are equally divided.
Fathers would also see their exclusive parental leave adjusted. The government wants to require fathers to take 14 consecutive days of leave immediately after childbirth, up from the current seven. The total period of exclusive leave would remain at 28 days, to be taken within 42 days of the child’s birth, but the reform eliminates the rule that the remaining days must be taken in minimum seven-day blocks.
Other proposed changes are more controversial. The reform would impose a two-year limit on work exemptions for breastfeeding, replacing the current law’s more open-ended approach. Employers would also require a medical certificate to prove breastfeeding status, to be renewed every six months. The government also wants to eliminate the three consecutive days of bereavement leave currently granted for pregnancy loss, suggesting instead that partners use the existing family assistance leave regime, which allows up to 15 days per year.
Flexible working arrangements are another flashpoint. Currently, parents of children under 12 (or with a disability or chronic illness) can refuse certain work schedules, such as nights or weekends, under a Supreme Court of Justice interpretation. The government’s proposal would clarify that this flexibility must align with the business’s operational needs, especially for night and weekend work.
The reform’s approach to strikes and minimum services is particularly contentious. The government wants to expand the sectors required to maintain minimum services during strikes to include nurseries, care homes, the food supply sector, and private security for essential goods. Minister of Labor, Solidarity, and Social Security explained the rationale as “to be a little more demanding in defining minimum services without undermining the right to strike,” emphasizing that this is only justified when other fundamental rights, such as health or mobility, are at stake.
On the employment contract front, the government’s proposal would allow initial fixed-term contracts to last up to one year, instead of the current six-month limit, and permit up to three renewals. The maximum duration of term contracts would increase from two to three years, and uncertain-term contracts could last up to five years, up from four. For intermittent workers, income from other activities during inactive periods would no longer be deducted from compensatory payments.
Perhaps most notably for businesses, the reform seeks to make dismissals easier in small and medium-sized enterprises by removing the obligation to present evidence at the employee’s request or to hear the employee’s witnesses in just-cause dismissal proceedings. The plan would also lift existing limits on outsourcing.
The government is also proposing the return of the individual hours bank, though with new safeguards. This would allow employers and employees to agree to increase the normal work period by up to two hours per day, reaching a maximum of 50 hours per week and 150 hours per year, with a reference period not exceeding four months. Employers would be required to notify employees of overtime needs at least three days in advance. Additionally, mandatory training hours for micro-enterprises would be halved to 20 hours annually.
Union leaders have made it clear that the strike could be called off if the government presents a new reform plan that takes union proposals into account and agrees to negotiate without preconditions. As UGT leader Mario Mourao told Eco news outlet, “The strike could be called off if the government presented a new reform plan taking into account union proposals and agreed to negotiate without red lines.”
With less than a month to go before the planned general strike, the government’s willingness to engage in dialogue will be tested. Both sides appear dug in, but the stakes—for workers, businesses, and the country’s economic future—could hardly be higher. Whether compromise is possible remains to be seen, but all eyes are now on Lisbon as December 11 approaches.
