According to monthly data from the Directorate-General for Employment and Labor Relations (DGERT), 489 strike notices were delivered to the state’s Ministry of Labor in the private sector and corporate sector between January and March, a number comparable to 197 during the same period from 2022.
Statistics from the Directorate-General for Administration and Public Employment (DGAEP) show that 264 pre-strike notices were communicated in the civil service in the first quarter of the year, compared to 124 in the first three months of the previous year.
In percentage terms, the year-on-year increase in the first quarter was 148.1% in the case of advance notice to the Department of Labor and 112.9% in public administration.
The increase in wages to cope with the rise in the cost of living due to inflation has been one of the main drivers of the protests.
Taking into account the previous notifications communicated to DGERT, the data shows that the majority (341) took place in the private sector and 148 in the state-owned enterprise sector, recording 74 minimum services processes.
Considering only the month of March, DGERT received 206 strike notices in the private sector (34%) and in the state-owned enterprise (66%), with the most affected sectors being “public administration and defence; social security compulsory” with 29% of the total and “administrative activities and support services” with 27%, followed by “transport and storage” (9%) and “human health and social support activities” (8%).
Regarding the 264 pre-announcements of public administration strikes, the vast majority (201) were registered in Education, followed by Health (28) and Foreign Affairs (13), although the latter have been withdrawn.
Seven strike orders were issued before the court, five for Local Administration, three for Internal Administration, one for Finance and one for Agriculture and Food.
In March there was also a national strike by civil servants called by the trade union federation CGTP.
The beginning of the year was marked by several strikes on CP – Comboios de Portugal, with rail disruptions across the country.
There are also various interruptions in education that have led to the closure of schools in the first months of the year, with minimum provisions being announced in some cases.
Source: DN
