Portugal’s Hospital Doctors to Join 11 Dec General Strike Against Labour Reforms

A wave of discontent that has been rippling through Portuguese workplaces all autumn gathered decisive momentum this week, when hospital doctors confirmed they will down stethoscopes during the general strike slated for 11 December. Their endorsement turns a largely union-led protest into a full-scale showdown that could test the resilience of the country’s public health system just as winter pressures build.

Doctors align with national strike

The decision emerged from the XIV congress of the Federação Nacional dos Médicos in Viana do Castelo, where delegates voted unanimously to stand with other sectors. Organisers argue that the Government’s labour-market package dilutes long-held protections and accelerates the drift toward precarious contracts. For many clinicians the move represents more than a pay dispute; it is framed as a defence of the Serviço Nacional de Saúde, a service they say is already stretched by staffing gaps and rising demand.

The heart of the dispute: Government’s labour overhaul

At the centre of the controversy sits a proposal to revise over one hundred articles of the Código do Trabalho. Unions complain that the draft encourages easier dismissals, widens the use of fixed-term contracts and resurrects the individual “banco de horas” mechanism, allowing working weeks to swell to 50 hours. Medics warn that looser scheduling rules could obliterate any semblance of work-life balance, undermine parental leave and deepen regional inequalities by pushing specialists toward private providers. The Health Minister counters that greater flexibility is necessary to keep Portugal competitive and to match public-sector practices with those already common in parts of the private economy.

Potential impact on hospitals and patients

Whenever doctors walk out, repercussions are swift. An 80 % adherence rate in October forced several northern hospitals to cancel virtually every planned operation. Officials expect similar turbulence next month, although “serviços mínimos” will be imposed to guarantee life-saving treatments such as dialysis, chemotherapy and emergency surgery. The Ministry nonetheless concedes that outpatient consultations, elective procedures and maternity care outside Lisbon and Porto are likely to face postponements, heightening anxiety among patients who have already endured pandemic backlogs.

How the Executive is bracing for 11 December

Health Minister Ana Paula Martins vows that contingency plans will be in place and insists channels for dialogue remain open. Yet her pledge to safeguard core services did little to appease FNAM president Joana Bordalo e Sá, who accuses the cabinet of “empty conversations without concrete offers”. Meanwhile, the proposed 2026 State Budget—criticised by the union of public-sector staff STTS as a “historical regression”—is moving through parliament, limiting the fiscal wiggle-room available for last-minute concessions.

Wider implications for Portugal’s job market

The current standoff resonates well beyond hospital corridors. The country’s two largest confederations, CGTP and UGT, have jointly called the general strike—an unusual show of unity that underscores broad fears about the potential normalisation of precarious work. Labour sociologists see the dispute as a decisive test of whether Portugal will follow other European nations in relaxing dismissal rules or double down on continental social-model principles that prize stability and collective bargaining.

What happens next

Negotiations are expected to intensify in the coming weeks, but both sides appear dug in. Should the strike proceed with strong medical participation, residents may face the most significant interruption to public healthcare since the early 2010s. The outcome will shape not only winter waiting lists but also the trajectory of Portuguese labour law, determining whether the Government’s quest for flexibility can find common ground with the professions that underpin essential public services.