Portugal's PCP Leader Challenges Right-Wing to Rally as Labour Law Overhaul Looms

Portuguese commuters may breeze through today’s news cycle, yet behind the headlines a political game of chicken is unfolding: PCP leader Paulo Raimundo has dared the centre-right bloc to test its popularity by staging a rally for a contentious labour-law overhaul the government is racing to approve. The stakes range from pay-packet impacts to streets potentially filling—again—with protesters.

Why everyday workers should care

Portugal’s menu of employment rules could soon taste markedly different. Among the items up for change:

• Longer working hours with slimmer overtime pay

• Easier fixed-term contracts and sub-contracting

• Looser thresholds for collective dismissals

• Re-introduction of the individual time-bank system, letting bosses bank hours owed to staff

Unions argue the recipe threatens salaries and work-life balance; business lobbies counter that it will trim red tape and lift productivity.

The public dare that caught Lisbon off-guard

Speaking in Porto last weekend, Raimundo challenged PSD, CDS, Chega and Iniciativa Liberal—the parties that shepherded the draft through parliament—to “come outside and defend it in the open.” His point: if the package truly benefits workers, “fill a square with cheering employees.”

So far, no right-wing party has accepted. A senior CDS adviser shrugged off the provocation as a “sideshow,” while a PSD source insisted “dialogue in parliament, not megaphones,” will carry the day. Even so, the silence risks reinforcing Raimundo’s narrative that the reform is designed by and for large employers.

Anatomy of the labour package

The bill spans more than 100 amendments to the Labour Code. According to leaked drafts reviewed by academic consortium Que força é essa?, headline shifts include:

Shorter notice periods before redundancies

Possibility for firms to apply a collective agreement with lower union representation to the whole workforce

De-criminalisation of minor cases of undeclared work, converting them into administrative offences

Automatic expiry of sectoral contracts after 3 years without renewal, unless both sides agree otherwise

Labour lawyers such as Garcia Pereira call it “a declaration of war on employee rights.” Conversely, Nova SBE economist Pedro Martins argues greater flexibility “can nudge productivity up by 1 %–2 % annually” if paired with skills training.

What the unions—and their critics—are planning next

The CGTP has already circled 28 February for nationwide demonstrations in Lisbon and Porto. The organisation brands the reform an “offensive” that “panders to financial groups.” A December general strike offered a preview: commuter railways stalled and schools closed in what union officials boasted was the “biggest walkout in a decade.”

Employer confederations, meanwhile, caution that continued industrial strife could chill foreign investment just as Portugal prepares to absorb fresh EU recovery funds. They argue the package merely aligns national rules with “common European benchmarks.”

Political calculus: who wins, who loses?

• Government (PSD/CDS): betting that a pro-business stance will woo centrist voters worried about economic drift.• PCP & Left Bloc: hope to galvanise their base and reclaim agenda-setting power they lost after the 2025 election.• Chega & IL: walk a tightrope—eager to deregu­late, yet wary of being blamed for unpopular clauses.• President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa: could still veto the bill once it reaches Belém, forcing revisions.

Possible scenarios on the streets

Right-wing parties accept Raimundo’s dare—unlikely but explosive, potentially showing whether rank-and-file workers back the reform.

Silence persists, energising February’s protests and handing unions a narrative victory.

Government offers cosmetic tweaks—limiting daily working-time extensions or shelving the individual time-bank—to peel off moderate critics.

The next four weeks at a glance

Date | What to watch------|--------------Early Feb | Parliamentary committee vote on final wordingMid-Feb | President hosts social-partners round-table at Belém Palace28 Feb | CGTP marches in Lisbon & Porto; police expect “tens of thousands”March | Possible presidential veto or promulgation

Bottom line

Whether you clock in at a call centre in Setúbal, code from your flat in Braga, or run a café in Faro, the coming fortnight could redraw the rules that govern your schedule, holidays and severance pay. Keep an eye on whether the governing parties step into the streetlights—or leave the squares to their critics. One way or another, Portugal’s next big labour showdown is already pencilled into the national diary.