Lisbon, Portugal — Tens of thousands of workers and labor unions staged a general strike in Portugal on Thursday, halting transport and public service operations.
Voicing out their dismay, the demonstrators took the parliament building after their government had rolled out a sweeping plan to rewrite the country’s labor laws.
Under the reform, it would amend more than 100 sections of Portugal’s labor code.
Among the most debated changes are:
Easier firing, where small and medium businesses would no longer need to show as much proof when letting someone go.
Lifting outsourcing limits, which will allow companies to give jobs to outside contractors.
And longer workdays, that would allow workers to add up to two extra hours a day, with a yearly limit of 150 hours.
According to international reports, the Portuguese government argues the reforms are needed to boost Portugal’s competitiveness and modernize rules they say no longer fit today’s workforce.
However, labor unions there call the overhaul anti-worker and say it strip employees of their rights.
They warn more demonstrations will follow if the government refuses to scale back the proposal.
This is not the first major worker strike in Europe this year.
Just last October, Greece also saw a nationwide strike over similar concerns.