Leaders of the Common Front of Public Administration Unions (Frente Comum) and the National Federation of Teachers (FENPROF) have welcomed the large turnout for today’s public administration strike.
Next to the António Arroio Artistic School in Lisbon, which was closed due to the strike, coordinator of Frente Comum Sebastião Santana accompanied by one of FENPROF’s general secretaries, José Feliciano Costa, pointed out that the rubbish collection sector had seen 90% adherence to the strike in the early hours of the morning (something that will leave residents sighing with a familiar sense of despair).
“This strike started on the night shift yesterday (Thursday) in hospitals and in waste collection”, said Santana. “Adherence during the night was very good. The overwhelming majority of hospitals had minimum services, from Tondela to Faro, including the largest urban centres.”
Santana predicted that the morning scene at António Arroio would be replicated today in Portugal.
“Schools are closed all over the country and others that we know in advance won’t open at all, and this is going to multiply across public administration services,” he told Lusa.
On the terraces in front of the Lisbon school – famous for its avant-garde approach and dedication to the arts – dozens of students stood chatting after finding the gates closed.
“It’s 8 am, the schools would be opening now, but we’re already aware of what’s happening all over the country, and I’m still receiving messages on my mobile phone. We have schools closed in Viseu, Covilhã, Almada, Sintra, Vialonga…” said Feliciano Costa.
The FENPROF leader added that “it’s a strike that will also have a big impact on education because of the school closures, which mean that there are non-teaching workers on strike and there are teachers on strike”, explaining that there are schools where “of their 12, 13, 14 (teachers), 11 to 12 are on strike”.
Also present at the rally “in solidarity with the workers” was presidential candidate António Filipe, former vice-speaker of parliament and historic Communist Party MP.
“There’s no question that the country needs good public services. We have very serious deficits in general. Public administration careers need to be attractive. What’s being discussed in the State Budget (for 2026) doesn’t point to that at all,” he explained the apparent disconnect.
Frente Comum called this public administration strike from 00:00 today accusing the AD government (PSD/CDS-PP) of degrading working conditions and disinvesting in public services.
Talking to reporters he said that, in unions’ opinions, “what the government is presenting (in the State Budget) is a proposal of improverishment. Frente Comum will not negotiate while workers are made poorer, therefore it is out of the question that we will sign an agreement.”
In addition to the education sector, disruptions are expected due to the lack of doctors, nurses, health service assistants, public transport workers, inspectors, tax officials, judicial officials, etc.
Wage increases, career development, the restoration of public service contracts and the defence of public services are other reasons for calling this “major strike”, which covers all state workers.
The Common Front represents 29 unions from all sectors of the public administration, adds Lusa.
