According to a statement from the cabinet meeting presidency, “the ongoing strike affects the supply of fuels to airports, fire departments and ports, as well as the supply of fuels to public transport and filling stations in the Lisbon and Porto metropolitan areas.”


The note explained that a civil requisition is needed to “ensure the satisfaction of social needs that are unpredictable in the distribution of fuels.”


The presidency added that this decision was made “after having found that minimum service was not ensured on 15 April” set by the ministers of labour, solidarity and social security, and environment and energy transition.


The strike by hazardous goods drivers, which began at midnight on Monday, was called by Portugal’s National Union of Drivers of Hazardous Material (SNMMP) for an indefinite period to claim recognition of the specific professional category, having challenged the minimum services set by the government.


Portuguese Association of Public Transport and Road Transport of Goods (ANTRAM) has rejected the grounds of the strike and demanded compliance with the law.


Despite recognising that the strike is a “constitutional right,” the association stressed that “compliance with the rules of its implementation” is equally important and demanded that the government “takes responsibility, to trigger all means available to impose the legality and the democratic normality, and to enforce the minimum services already set.”