Lisbon, Oct. 24, 2025 (Lusa) - Leaders of the Common Front of Public Administration Unions and the National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof) 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, the coordinator of the Common Front, 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.
"This strike started on the night shift yesterday [Thursday] in hospitals and in waste collection. Adherence during the night was very good. The overwhelming majority of hospitals had minimum services, from Tondela to Faro, including the largest urban centres," said Sebastião Santana.
The leader of the Frente Comum 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 the public administration services," he said.
On the terraces in front of the Lisbon school, known for its avant-garde approach and dedication to the arts, dozens of students were socialising this morning after finding the gates closed.
"It's 8 a.m., 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, and even in Lisbon," 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 was presidential candidate António Filipe, former vice-speaker of parliament and historic Communist Party MP, "in solidarity with the workers".
"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 lamented.
The Common Front has been holding a public administration strike since 00:00 today against the Democratic Alliance government (PSD/CDS-PP), which it accuses of degrading working conditions and disinvesting in public services.
In addition to the education sector, disruptions are expected due to the lack of doctors, nurses and health service assistants, public transport workers, inspectors, tax officials, and judicial officials, among others.
Wage increases, career development, the restoration of public service contracts and the defence of public services are also reasons for calling this "big strike", which covers all state workers.
The Common Front represents 29 unions from all sectors of the public administration.
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Lusa
