Portugal's Labour Reform Bill Rejected, Union Declares Victory for Workers

The draft "Trabalho XXI" labour reform was voted down in the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic on 19 June. The National Union of Flight Personnel of Civil Aviation (SNPVAC) described the outcome as "a defeat for the Government (and especially for the Labour Minister) but above all a victory of the workers".

SNPVAC criticised the proposal for attempts to weaken collective bargaining, target working mothers, precarise young entrants to the labour market, normalise outsourcing and launch unprecedented attacks on unions. The union highlighted its support for the general strikes of 11 December and 3 June and noted that the Labour Code remains unchanged.

The government had presented the bill as a modernisation of the labour market, but the parliamentary rejection halts those reforms for now.