International Relations Review

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The Striking Teachers Of Portugal

Portuguese teachers cannot afford to live. Rising costs over the last two years have pushed many working families to the brink of abject poverty and desperation. In response, teacher unions have organized strikes across the nation, sparking public unrest alongside numerous school closures. This is nothing new for Portugal. In 2013, tens of thousands of teachers crowded the streets of Lisbon, demanding an end to former Prime Minister Passos Coelho’s draconian budget cuts. This movement against austerity brought Antonio Costa’s Socialists to power only a few years later. Although some progress was made, under the current left-wing coalition, street protests have yet to subside. If the new Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos intends to hold onto his constituency, he must answer the call of the nation’s educators. 

The struggle for adequate teaching wages in Portugal can be traced back to the 2008 financial crisis. While economies throughout much of the West saw a decline, the situation in Portugal was particularly dire. According to Portuguese economist Ricardo Reis, the share price for Portugal’s largest bank, which had liabilities equal to 54 percent of the GDP, plummeted from above 70 cents at the start of 2008 to less than 10 cents by 2012. The collapse of this crucial banking system, coupled with an already stagnant and heavily indebted economy, left the government with very few options. Recovery would only begin in 2011 when the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) injected €78 billion into the Portuguese state. In return, the IMF demanded steep reductions in public spending. The ruling conservative Social Democratic Party at the time, led by Prime Minister Passos Coelho, earnestly obeyed. Between 2011 and 2013, the Portuguese government cut spending by €13 billion, about eight percent of the country’s economic output. These cuts impacted schoolteachers the most. 

Public education was among the first institutions on the austerity chopping block. Saving efforts included salary cuts, increasing classroom sizes, halting promotions, privatization, and more. Teachers across the country reacted with resounding anger. The Associated Press wrote in 2013, “Thousands of teachers from around Portugal are marching in downtown Lisbon to protest proposed spending cuts they say will slash €1 billion ($1.3 billion USD) from the education budget.” These nationwide protests were accompanied by a wave of mass general strikes organized by some of Portugal’s most influential unions such as the General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers (CGTP) and the General Union of Workers (UGT). Madrid-based journalist Giles Tremlett described that the walk-outs had disrupted essential city services like trash collection, transportation, and mail deliveries and many medical appointments and court hearings had to be canceled. Passos Coelho’s conservative agenda had the unintended consequence of building class solidarity among Portuguese workers. Strikes and demonstrations became the new weapons of the defunded public sector. This open rebellion lasted through the 2015 elections, allowing Costa’s anti-austerity Socialists to win control over Parliament shortly after.

As promised, Prime Minister Costa reversed many of his predecessor’s unpopular reforms. The new fiscal strategy instead “pledged to increase the minimum wage, reverse regressive tax increases, return public sector wages and pensions to their pre-crisis levels.” Contrary to the doomsday predictions from neoliberal economists, this government spending helped stimulate Portugal’s recovery and significantly reduce poverty. By investing in public welfare, Portugal’s Socialists had increased consumer demand along with disposable income, while cutting the deficit by more than half.  During a 2018 speech to the European Parliament, Costa boasted that “In Portugal we devised an alternative to austerity, centered on higher growth, more and better jobs, and greater equality.” The period of stability brought about by this Keynesian economic philosophy, while worth celebrating, did not bring an end to Portugal’s woes. 

Despite dominant performances in the 2019 and 2022 elections, Costa was forced to step down as prime minister in the aftermath of a corruption investigation. Former Infrastructure Minister Pedro Nuno Santos replaced Costa as the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party at the end of last year. Meanwhile, soaring living costs have plunged Portugal into yet another financial crisis. Housing database Confidencial Imobiliario estimates that rents in Lisbon have increased 65 percent since 2015 and sale prices have spiked by 137 percent, with much of this inflation taking place after 2022. The worsening state of affairs has completely revitalized the teacher marches made famous a decade ago. In February of last year, “The (National Federation of Professors) union said it expected more than 100,000 people to participate in the protest…It was the third time in less than a month that teachers and school workers have held mass demonstrations.” The recent mobilization of the Portuguese labor movement signals a return to contentious politics that will have immediate ramifications on the upcoming general elections and their aftermath. 

Considering the far-reaching effects of the revolts under Passos Coelho, the policies of the current Socialist government are of utmost importance. Pedro Nuno Santos not only has a duty to the striking teachers in Lisbon but also to the masses of unemployed and homeless throughout all of Portugal. Lawmakers must continue to build robust social services while actively collaborating with unions and other civil society organizations. Unfortunately for the Socialists, the far-right populist Chega party has surged as of the March 2024 snap elections, and the Social Democrats are poised to reclaim parliamentary control. These results represent an immense disconnect between workers and politicians that is reminiscent of the early 2010s. Improving on the efforts of the past is the only way to guarantee a prosperous future.