Portugal's parliament rejects labour reform in blow to minority government

Portugal's centre-right government suffered a major defeat as parliament rejected its labour reform proposal, with the far-right and centre-left parties joining forces to block the bill.

Portugal's centre-right government suffered ​its heaviest blow since ‌returning to ​power last May when parliament rejected its labour reform proposal on Friday, with the far-right ‌Chega and the centre-left Socialist Party joining forces to block it. The government had proposed changes to more than 100 articles of the labour code aimed ‌at boosting productivity and economic growth, but unions argue the overhaul ‌favours employers at the expense of workers' rights and have staged two general strikes in the past six months. Only the 91 lawmakers from the ruling coalition and ⁠nine ​members of the Liberal ⁠Initiative party backed the bill, with the rest of the 230-seat chamber voting ⁠against, including Chega's 60 lawmakers and the Socialist Party's 58. The rejection provoked heavy ​applause from the galleries. The reform aimed to make just-cause dismissals ⁠easier, allow companies to avoid reinstating workers in cases of unlawful dismissal by paying compensation, ⁠and ​lift limits on outsourcing. Chega leader Andre Ventura and Prime Minister Luís Montenegro had been negotiating until the last minute but failed ⁠to reach an agreement. Chega had been pushing for a gradual reduction in Portugal’s ⁠retirement age, ⁠aiming to bring it down from the current 66 years and 9 months to 65 — a proposal ‌the government flatly ‌rejected.