Public servants, including hospital staff, strike on 2 November. Housing marches across the country on 14 November
Public sector workers will strike on Monday 2 November. The strike has been called by the STTS union (Sindicato Nacional dos Trabalhadores dos Serviços e de Entidades com Fins Públicos — the national union of workers in public services and public-interest bodies). It covers ministries and government agencies, regional and local authorities, state institutes and state-owned companies, including the ULS local health units, which bring together hospitals and health centres (ECO). If you have an appointment or a procedure booked for Monday, it is best to check in advance whether it has been cancelled.
The union is demanding a meal card worth €10.20 a day, a risk allowance for hospital orderlies, more hiring and a review of SIADAP, the performance assessment system for public servants, so that staff do not lose points when they move off a temporary contract or change jobs.
On 14 November the Casa para Viver ("A Home to Live In") and Porta a Porta ("Door to Door") movements are calling a national day of action on housing. Events will take place all over the country, including in the Azores and Madeira. In Lisbon people will gather at 15:00 on Alameda Dom Afonso Henriques, and in Porto at 15:00 on Praça do Marquês (Jornal de Negócios). The protesters are demanding that the new rental law, which parliament is currently debating clause by clause, be scrapped; an end to demolitions and evictions when people have nowhere else to go; a stop to investment funds buying up housing; more public housing; empty homes brought back into use; and rent caps set at genuinely affordable levels.
Later in the month come the actions the unions announced earlier. On 20 November public servants from the Frente Comum union federation will hold a national strike; on days like this, schools and health centres usually close (more details). The unions are only prepared to call off the strike if the government sits down to discuss their 83 proposals. On 21 November the CGTP union confederation will hold a march in Lisbon, and on 24 November, the day of the final vote on the 2027 budget, a rally outside parliament (Notícias ao Minuto).
