With support from 60-90 percent of health workers, according to estimates, teachers and civil servants, the strike is the first such an action organized this year, after the elections that gave the absolute majority in the Assembly of the Republic to the Socialist Party, led by Prime Minister Antonio Costa.

The protest was organized by the Common Front of Public Service Unions, attached to the General Confederation of Labor, Portugal’s largest trade union confederation.

Among the demands to the Government are improvements in professional careers, working conditions and raises to compensate for the loss of purchasing power aggravated by inflation.

The mobilization is taking place a week before the approval of the 2023 State Budget, which contemplates increases of up to 3.6 percent for public employees.

In an interview with the RTP channel, Sebastião Santana, coordinator of the Common Front, noted that further protests were not ruled out.

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