Portugal's tourism workers strike for better wages and conditions

Employees of the tourism and hospitality sector in Portugal have had enough of the current situation in their country. To show their dissatisfaction, they organised a 24-hour strike nationwide. Representatives of this industry are demanding several changes.

On Monday, 27 May, the Portuguese began a 24-hour strike nationwide in the morning. In the evening, they participated in a demonstration in the centre of Lisbon.

Representatives of the tourism and hospitality industry specify the changes they expect. Among the strikers' main demands are an increase in wages to compensate for the rise in inflation and an improvement in working conditions.

Tiago Oliveira, the head of the largest Portuguese trade union centre, CGTP, informed me that the protest primarily concerns the possibility of increasing the number of employees in cafeterias, restaurants, and collective accommodation facilities.

He added that employers in the tourism and hospitality sector are usually not willing to increase the number of jobs. Meanwhile, Oliveira said, this sector, along with the record influx of tourists, urgently needs new employees.

Numerous photos have appeared on social media, showing crowds of Portuguese with posters walking the streets of cities. At the same time, teachers were also on strike in Portugal. "Today we were in front of the Ministry (...). The fight continues!" - reads one of the posts published by Sindicato CESP on platform X.

According to estimates by the Tourism Office of Portugal (TP), last year was a record year for both the number of overnight stays in hotel facilities and the value of revenue from tourist bookings.