Portugal hit by severe disruption in first general strike for 12 years

PM Luís Montenegro appears to have been taken aback by the strength of feeling against his government's labour reforms.

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Public transport was down to a minimum service in many areas, and unions said refuse collections were at a standstill as the strike took hold on Thursday.

The last time the CGTP and the generally less militant UGT joined forces was during the eurozone debt crisis in 2013, when a "troika" of international institutions demanded cuts in salaries and pensions as part of Portugal's bailout.

Twelve years later, Portugal's economy has become the fastest growing in the eurozone in recent months, but Prime Minister Luís Montenegro says it is still necessary to tackle "rigidities" in the labour market "so companies can be more profitable and workers have better salaries" as a result.

"I will not give up on having a country with the ambition to be at the forefront, to be at the vanguard of Europe," he said on the eve of the strike.